At noon in early summer, I was running wildly on the streets of Xiangyang. Passers-by were trying to avoid me. I had expected this. I was covered in blood and had a big "wound" on my shoulder. It was still bleeding. I must have looked eerie and scary.
When he was two streets away from the prefectural government, he met a group of new soldiers coming towards him. They had not put on their armor yet, so they walked very slowly, but each of them was still carrying a halberd. He thought to himself: Not bad!
The new soldiers were shocked when they saw me from a distance. The sergeant leading the group seemed to be an experienced soldier. He came forward and tried to stop me, but I ran straight towards him and shouted, "Where is the governor's mansion? There's an emergency clerk ahead. Direct me there!"
The old soldier seemed to believe it and turned around and pointed in the direction of the prefectural government.
I pretended to look in the direction he pointed, and indeed, I could now see the guard tower in front of the prefectural mansion.
"Thank you." I regretted it as soon as I came out. There was no messenger so polite now, especially when he was so injured. I hurriedly ran down.
"I wonder which general this young man is from, he is so polite..." That's all I heard, I didn't want to stop and listen to them discussing me, so I "followed his instructions" and turned to the road in front of the prefect's mansion.
As a native of Xiangyang, I have walked this road countless times. I can run on this road with my eyes closed. But this time I couldn't do it. I ran straight ahead. I knew where the potholes on the road were, so I stumbled in several places and even fell down when I was about to reach the gate of the prefectural mansion.
The guards had already noticed me. Before I could even step onto the steps in front of the mansion, more than a dozen iron halberds were already blocking my way.
"Who are you?"
"400 miles in an hurry. Our army broke out of Wancheng and headed for Xinye. Last night, we were surrounded in Xinye by Zhang Mancheng's troops from Nanyang. Lord Zhu ordered me to come to Xiangyang as soon as possible to ask for reinforcements. Lord Zhu's life or death is still unknown. Please quickly pass this letter to the governor." Only then did I start to thank Zisheng. If it weren't for that chatterbox, I wouldn't have been able to make up this lie.
Then he handed me the blood letter soaked with my sweat, which was placed in front of me. He exerted force with his right hand, and the blister on his pig's niang burst. Blood gushed out from between his fingers like a spring. Xinye is the gateway to the north of Xiangyang. If Xinye is surrounded, Xiangyang will also be in danger. The matter was urgent, and the person who reported it had no doubts. He looked at the blood letter in his hand and it was almost unrecognizable, so he asked someone to carry me, who was already dying. I walked through the central hall and went to the governor. This was my first time here, and I felt very fresh. I looked left and right, thinking that I could brag to my classmates after I went out. I couldn't hide my happiness.
"Why is the general laughing?"
No! Too happy.
"I feel relieved when I think that I will be able to lead the troops back to rescue General Zhu soon."
"The general is a man who values friendship and loyalty."
"How do you know I'm a general?" I was really interested in this.
"When Xinye was surrounded, he was able to ride out alone among the thousands of Yellow Turban troops to deliver a letter. How could an ordinary soldier do that?"
"General, you have the body of a lion and a tiger, and you look handsome. Who would believe that he is not a general?"
This satisfied my vanity a lot. Of course, this guy was still a bit boastful, because my face was covered in blood, and I was afraid that my classmates would not be able to recognize me. I have a handsome appearance, but I don’t know how they could tell.
And what made me most uncomfortable was why he found two such short soldiers to hold me up. I felt really uncomfortable, as if I was holding these two guys, instead of them holding me up.
Finally, I saw the Master, Governor He, and many high-ranking officials. The steward ran up to the Master and the Governor and gave them a brief explanation. The Governor's face changed, and the Master's face also changed when he saw me.
The color of my face changed, too, but it shouldn't be noticeable because my face is covered in pig blood.
Because I really thought things were too simple and naive. Although the gentleman was already the governor of the state, given his personality, I thought nothing would happen. But in front of so many of his staff, I falsely passed on military orders and entered the court without permission. This was a very serious crime.
"What happened in Xinye?" asked the governor.
"Uh, this..." I really was speechless.
I looked at my husband for help.
"Zirui, why did you come just now? Didn't I tell you to come here as soon as possible to discuss the matter?" The gentleman really helped me to smooth things over.
"Sir, uh, no, Lord Wei, but I am just a commoner, and there is no door for me to enter this government office!"
"So you just faked the military order." The gentleman asked knowingly with a smile.
"Yes, sir."
"My dear colleagues, this is my student, Xie Zhi, also known by his courtesy name Zirui. He is very resourceful. I once asked him to discuss state affairs with General Huangfu Song, who was impressed by his talent. But you were too abrupt this time."
"Maybe."
"You are indeed a promising young man. It is a brilliant idea to fake a military order to enter the palace!"
"That's right. There is such a young hero in my Xiangyang City."
"Mr. Wei, you have many talented students all over the world. You are so enviable!"
…
Soon it became a farce of everyone fawning on the teacher. I really didn't want to stay in this place. But I still have a sense of loyalty, and I still remember the brothers outside the mansion under the scorching sun.
"My Lord, uh, sir, the students are waiting outside the mansion as you instructed. Do you want me to pass on a message?"
"Well, you go out with them first, and I'll be out in a moment."
"Yes, the student is leaving."
I walked out of the yamen gate with ease, opened my arms and showed my victory to my classmates. Then, I saw my sister among my classmates, and my face froze.
"I'll go home first, the teacher will be out soon." He turned and ran.
"Isn't your home over there?" my classmate asked. Of course I knew, but I couldn't go back with my sister. I felt terrified just thinking about her pulling my ears and walking through those streets. I subconsciously mooed my big earlobes, thinking that it might have been my sister who pulled them. There was another reason why I ran over here. My bag was still with Uncle Rong!
Then, no need, I was at home, being scolded by my sister by the ear. Since yesterday when I lied to her, I guess it was that bastard Zisheng who came out again. As for the hole in my clothes, I was actually scolded while looking at her and laughing. I knew this trick was the most effective. Sure enough, in the end, she also laughed while scolding me, and ordered me to take a shower.
After taking a shower, I felt refreshed both physically and mentally. I lay comfortably on my bed and wanted to have a good sleep to make up for the sleepiness from spending the night in the weeds yesterday. Then Zishe came. He walked straight to my bed without any hesitation and said, "You are just too reckless. I was afraid that you would get hurt after you went in, so I went to find your sister.
"So, you betrayed me."
"So what? If you are dragged out to be beaten, I can ask her to come out and recognize you. You are crazy. It is not right for the governor to reject a weak woman's request to return her poor brother in public."
To be honest, it is really hard for me to combine the image of a weak woman with that of my sister. However, when my sister came over to serve tea to me and Zishe, I felt the same way again. My sister has a beautiful face and is very delicate. To be honest, she looks more like my sister.
After my sister left, Zishe took his eyes off my sister and said to me, "It's hard to imagine that you, a rough man, actually have such a sister."
"You're targeting my sister."
"Not only me, but also Ziyuan, Ziren, Yunshu,... It seems that Zisheng is also thinking about this. Such a beautiful woman, so gentle, virtuous, and careful, can even take good care of a big buffalo like you."
"That's enough. Stop it. If you want to take advantage of me, just be clear. Anyway, don't try to take advantage of my sister."
In fact, what I was thinking about at that time was the terrible scene after Zisheng became my brother-in-law. Every day he said to me: "Zirui, why haven't you gotten up from bed so late... You always stay in bed... Why are your clothes torn... A man should have ambitions and should not covet a comfortable life..."
I was already sweating profusely, and I couldn't let this happen.
"Zi Rui! Zi Sheng is here!" Sister's voice rang out. I shuddered when I heard the name and hurried out.
Zisheng was being polite to my sister at the door. It was too dangerous, so I quickly rushed over to take over the conversation.
"Brother Wenjie, what do you want?"
"Uh, Zirui, you seldom call me by my name, I thought you didn't know my name..." I am so nosy, wouldn't it be fine to just call him Zisheng? Why should I call him by his name
"Zisheng, what do you want to talk to me about?" I interrupted him before he could change the subject.
"You called me Zisheng again, you are so funny today..." In my mind, I had already ripped off the door panel and smashed it on him in the street.
The elder sister saw that Zisheng was in danger and was about to interrupt him when Zishe came out.
"Zisheng, was it Mr. Wei who asked you to come?" At that time, I really wanted to hug Zishe and cry. Zishe was so nice. He always helped me out of trouble.
"Yes, ... you were so powerful in the prefect's mansion today, and everyone was talking about you... What did you do in there today?..." One of my hands was already on the door, and my sister hurriedly grabbed my hand.
"Teacher Wei wants you to ask Zirui to go there to meet him?" Zishe was really stupid and said this just like timely rain.
"Yes..." One sentence was enough. I quickly dragged Zisheng away. Zishe must be wondering, am I not looking for death? How could he know what I was afraid of
"Where is the teacher?" I asked him.
"He's at the cottage, why are you running so fast? And you're dragging me along, I can't run that fast. ... Can't you just let me rest at your house for a while?"
"no!"
"No, then no. Why are you shouting so loudly?"
After walking two streets, I left him and headed straight for the academy, thinking that I might be scolded.