Everyone heard my last sentence, because my voice got louder at the end. When I finished the last sentence, I helplessly stretched out my arms and pointed at the gloomy sky, and then I realized that my body was still very weak. Although I was just singing casually, I was still very tired. By the time I was moved, I had used up all my strength.
In the next few days, I seemed to sleep more. Before I left, Master's wife talked to me about this. She said that sleeping is a good way for us to use our own body to treat our own diseases, and the body will know when to do these things. Although it was the first time I heard such a strange theory, I believed it immediately. It may be because Master's wife saved Kong Ming from the brink of death. And I always felt very sleepy, so I kept sleeping.
One day later, due to the strong wind, we sped up and arrived in Gaoyou "ahead of time". But I missed it because I woke up after entering Gaoyou Lake and could no longer see Gaoyou. Gaoyou is the largest post station in the world today. The entire county is a big post station. There are dense water networks and roads extending in all directions. Many things from the south to the north must be transported from there, and officials and merchants must pass through there. It must be very busy when a disaster occurs. I haven't seen the scale of the world's first post station, which is really a pity. In fact, if we count further back, I also want to see Yandu, because it is the main salt production area in the world, and I also want to see how salt is dried; and two filial sons who are famous all over the world came from there: Wang Xiang lay on the ice to catch fish, and Dong Yong sold himself to bury his father. It is indeed worth a visit, and the water and soil there must be very spiritual. Moreover, Sun Jing told me a story on the first day about the love between Dong Yong and the fairy in the sky, so I also want to go to the big willow tree where they are said to have met to see if God will give me a marriage.
Between sleeping and waking up, the surrounding landscape has changed a lot. It is no longer a muddy flood, but a clear lake. The people living on Gaoyou Lake seem to have not been affected by the flood. They are still fishing peacefully. It seems that nothing is wrong here.
When Long Xing woke me up, we were on a river. Although the water was calm, it was indeed very wide. However, the sun hiding in the clouds told us that we were heading northwest. It should not be the Yangtze River. And if it was the Yangtze River, I would have slept too long.
"Sun Jing and his men are gone." He was somewhat relieved. "We are going to enter Hongze. Now we are in Yangzhou. Tao Qian's ship is waiting at the mouth of Gaoyou Lake. After picking us up, Sun Jing took his men away."
Xu Zijiang also came over and called me, "Don't play dead. Taoist Yu told me that you are getting better. Get up quickly. Move around."
"Do you want to coax Tao Qian as well? After all, Tao Qian is also He Jin's man." I pretended to be very serious. In fact, I was a little lazy. Although I was a little impatient to lie down all the time, I didn't want to leave this comfortable bed if I was really asked to get up. It was a bit like taking a nap. In the past, my sister always coaxed me to take a nap, but I refused. But once I fell asleep, at dusk, my sister would worry about how to wake me up.
"I suggest you get up and meet the person sent by Tao Qian." Yu Ji said to me. Yu Ji's voice was a little strange, like Xu Zijiang, so I knew there must be something mysterious. It couldn't be my sister. Could it be that the teacher sent my sister to Jiujiang? No, if it was my sister, she would have come into this room next to my bed a long time ago.
I felt filled with immense strength and suddenly got up, but for some reason, my vision went dark and I passed out again.
This time when I woke up, Yu Ji was beside me, reminding me not to get up so quickly. I am tall, and my blood and qi are slower than those of ordinary people. I need to be careful. Although I was eager to meet the representative of Tao Qian, I had suffered a loss after all, so I had to get up slowly.
"I didn't ask you to be so slow. If you were so slow, you might be able to see him tomorrow evening." Yu Ji also began to learn how to make fun of others.
I finally stood up, a little shaky, dizzy, and unsteady on my feet. I followed his direction and went to the bow. It was a good day, but I woke up from the dizziness. When I got up, it was night again. There was a half moon, sparse stars, and a light breeze. Xu Zijiang was holding the man on the bow and chatting about something. It was obvious that they seemed to be quite speculative.
"Brother Hongwei, I haven't seen you for more than half a year. Please accept my greetings. I miss all of you classmates so much." I was a little excited but speechless. When I saw Brother Yang, I really felt that I had been away from home for too long this time.
"Are you okay?" He pointed at my legs with concern, which made me check it myself. I couldn't see anything because it was wrapped. I moved and felt a little numb, but otherwise I felt fine.
"Nothing, I'm in good health!" I think I was being too arrogant. I knew I was going to be attacked. Brother Yang Shuo was a man who was very good at attacking people. I was touched by his greeting, but I decided to let him use his attacking skills. It had been a long time since we had a fight, and I was really bored.
They didn't do anything, just sneered together and reminded me that I had been lying in bed for more than ten days. But they obviously didn't intend to stay on this boring topic for too long, but I knew that Brother Yang had already used this as material to attack me, and he was just saving it for later use.
"You are so mean. Why did you send me to Jiangling?" Brother Yang started with what he thought was the most important question.
"Why? What happened to Jiang Ling?"
"When Ziyu said goodbye to me, he hugged me warmly. I thought he thought he was in danger and was saying goodbye. Later I found out that the reason he hugged me like that was because I was really in danger."
"You are the governor of Jiangling, who dares to touch you?" I was a little confused.
"Zi Yu let me live in his official residence in Jiangling, and he also left me a child he adopted..." I immediately realized, and he continued: "I am not his adoptive parent, so I really can't do anything to him. Fortunately, my Wang Can is still with my parents, otherwise he would have been killed. In the end, within two days, I moved to the government office and dared not go home."
"Is Wei Yan really that scary?"
"You still know that man? Then you are so bad. Aren't you asking for trouble? That tyrant in Jiangling did nothing but murder and robbery. It seems that there is nothing he dare not do." He smiled bitterly.
"How did you solve this problem? You can't just let that guy be like this, right?"
"I wrote a letter to ask Wen Sheng to come over and bring more people with him, as the road might be unsafe. Then, I asked someone to coax Wei Yan to the road where Brother Yan was coming. You know Brother Yan, he is a very honest person, and he doesn't have any ulterior motives, but he can get impatient, and when he gets impatient, he has a bad temper. Fortunately for Wei Yan, Wen Sheng only had him spanked twenty times."
"What did Wei Yan do this time?"
"He saw the horses coming from a distance, so he prepared a rope and tripped Wen Sheng's horse. Just imagine that Wen Sheng is a man who doesn't move much. If he falls like this, it will be terrible. His men caught Wei Yan, and Wen Sheng fell hard, but Wen Sheng is still a good person. He didn't get too angry at the beginning when he was tricked by a child, but Wei Yan was a little fearless, and finally he angered Wen Sheng. I gave him a good lesson for Zi Yu. Now he has restrained himself a lot. I simply wrote a letter to Teacher Wei, saying that I will go to Changsha and Wen Sheng will come to Jiangling."
"Aren't you being too indulgent with him? You can't let him act up all the time like this."
"You teach him a lesson, he will cry and look very sad, and you can't do anything about it, after all, he is just a child. But as soon as the incident is over, he will be the same again. We have taught him a lesson for many years, but now Wensheng has taught him to study obediently."
"Brother Yan is so awesome!"
"And, of course, he's married."
"Is he married too?"
"Yes, he just turned eighteen and his family asked him to get married. It seemed that his family had arranged it when he was born. I may also get married when I go back. It was also arranged by my family a long time ago. The girl is from Xiliang, and I haven't met her yet... It seems that you will be eighteen too, right?" He was a little helpless.
"But, our family can't arrange this for me." Three parts teasing, seven parts sadness. Although I think this kind of marriage arranged by the parents is not very good, it is at least a kind of care and labor of love from parents. It's a pity that even my sister is not married now. My sister is almost twenty-two years old. Although the teacher's wife married the teacher at the age of twenty-five, at least it's because they grew up together. My classmates have started to get married one by one, but my sister... What if my sister becomes an old maid? "How is my sister now?"
"You would never guess that." Brother Yang had a strange smile on his face again. "She led the troops to suppress the rebellion. Note that she was the commander-in-chief."
"Really?" I was shocked. "Teacher, you are serious, right?"
"You can't see some official reports in the north. It's windy on the lake at night. If you're feeling well, let's go in and talk."
"Brother Hongwei, you now know all my men, right? How do you feel about them?" On the way back, I still found other relaxing things to do. Obviously, Xu Ziyu Yu and Ji were already quite familiar with him.
"I've seen them all. They are good, quite good. But why are they all foreigners? Even if they are Han people, they are Han people who grew up among foreigners." This sentence made me sad, because those talented people among us Han people were unwilling to follow me or the teacher.
"I don't know, maybe I look like a barbarian?" I subconsciously puffed out my beard, which had been a mess for the past ten days.
"That's not the problem. It's mainly because of our special identity, right?" I nodded, agreeing with him.
We sat down in Brother Yang's temporary cabin, and I spoke first: "Brother Yang, there aren't any spies of Tao Qian on this ship, right?"
"No, we are with Tao Qian. He is very kind and polite to us. He also provided us with good food and supplies. After we got the news that you were attacked and injured, Yan Yan and I discussed with Tao Qian and decided that I would come to pick you up. All the people here are ours, and Tao Qian has no objection."
"Oh, you and Wensheng are here?"
"Of course. Otherwise, if Wen Sheng left, I might be transferred to manage Jiangling again. You also know that Wei Yan is very scary and I can't control him. So I took the initiative to ask to come with Wen Sheng."
"That's good. Brother Wensheng is serious but a little impatient, while you are a little laid back but calm. It's a good match." After teasing for a while, I quickly turned the topic to the point: "How come my sister is the commander-in-chief? Where is my master?"
"You are also leading the army?"
"There's a commotion in the south? And it's a big one?" I think I understand what's going on.
Brother Yang spread out a piece of sheepskin from the table. On it was a map of Yangzhou, Jingzhou and Jiangnan, which was a little different from mine.
"This is what the south of Yangzhou and Jingzhou looks like now. Do you remember the fictitious theories in ancient books? Now Dongting and Poyang have become one lake! It seems that the big lake Yunmengze may have really existed in the past, but it was silted up to become land. This flood has completely turned this place into an ocean. Fortunately, we have made four months of preparation. Even so, many towns have now become isolated islands, but the orders given to us by the teacher are very interesting. We found that the locations where he instructed us to build dams, together with the existing mountains, just happened to enclose this Yunmengze." Brother Yang pointed to the dams in various places to me as if introducing a miracle. "But after this flood, more than 20 counties and prefectures had no harvest. Although we tried our best to mobilize food, there were still difficulties. As a result, of course, some people will make trouble. Now this lake is too large, with Jiuling Mountain as the southern boundary. General Huang brought Zi Yu and Qing to Changsha to pacify Mufu Mountain. Now we can call on Qu Xing and his group on Mufu Island. Brother Wen Dong brought Chen Ou to fight Wu's bandits in Zigui. We don't know who the leader of the bandits is yet. A Jinfan thief named Gan Xingba appeared in the Poyang area. Jiang Zheng was bringing his wife and Li Zhen's wife to deal with him in Nanye. Now this is the biggest trouble. Gan Xingba is very powerful. On land, it took Hu Yujun, Li Zhen, and Zhou Yu to attack him alone before he was defeated. When they got to the water, they injured Zhou Yu with a meteor hammer. Jiang Zheng also had to divide his troops to guard the riverside. Fortunately, we came to Jiangbei to share the pressure with him. We are the opposite of them. The sooner they do, the better. At least they have to finish before the beginning of spring. We have to prepare to delay until next summer. It just so happens that we don't have many soldiers, more than 5,000 people, and there are no generals who can charge into battle. "
"Where's my sister?" I knew Brother Yang was trying to tease me. He asked me a lot of questions, but I didn't have time to ask him. My biggest concern now was my sister.
"I knew you were anxious. There was also unrest in Wu County to the east. Teacher really couldn't send anyone. You know we in Jingzhou are short of people to lead troops in battle. We sent Jiang Zheng because he participated in the Battle of Hanzhong."
"Isn't there still Pei Gang?"
"Guan Hai of Wucheng is a remnant of the Yellow Turbans. How can you expect Pei Gang to kill him?"
"But Brother Hongwei, my entire Jingzhou Army is probably made up of Yellow Turbans, right?"
"If all our soldiers are from the Yellow Turban Army, it would be easy to get them to surrender, but if Pei Gang leads the army, it will alienate Guan Hai's army. Because... they were sworn brothers before." He sighed, "He thinks Pei Yuanshao, is it Pei Yuanshao? In Guan Hai's mind, he surrendered and betrayed the Yellow Turban Army, thus severing their brotherhood. If you let Pei Gang go, won't it provoke Guan Hai to lead his men to fight to the death?"
"Then let Pei Gang deal with the bandits in other places, and let Jiang Zheng go to Wu, right?"
"This summer, there are more than just four rebellions in the southern part of our Jingyang Province. In Wu County alone, there are Eastern Wu De Wang Yan Baihu, Jingxing Wang Lang, and Loudi Zhou Xin, all of whom have thousands of people, and there are even more teams of hundreds or dozens of people. In the middle, there are more than a dozen Yellow Turban diehards. There is no big problem between the soldiers, but Pei Gang was also a general in the Yellow Turbans. In addition to dealing with the four big ones, these four routes also have to deal with a lot of these bandits. How do you want Pei Gang to face his former brothers? In fact, you don't let him go to the battlefield. Pei Gang is also very distressed. He also hopes that these Yellow Turban brothers will surrender. However, we have recruited them for such a long time and they still don't come. Now how can he just say a few words to them?"
"Then why did my sister have to go in the end?" I thought that no one should be blamed except my sister.
"It's because you ran away. You are too childish. But it seems that all the people you brought back this time are capable of fighting. It can be regarded as making up for your crime of deserting the battlefield this time." Although the words sounded a bit joking, Brother Yang seemed to be very serious, and I nodded. He continued: "It was your sister who stepped forward in the end. Originally, this was something her brother should do, but now he is not here, as his sister, she must step forward to fill this vacancy. The teacher did not allow it at first, but your sister insisted. In the end, because of the emergency of the military situation, she had to do this. Pei Gang was anxious. His brother was not here. If Yin Ling got into trouble, how would he explain to you? In the end, Pei Gang served as your sister's deputy, transporting food and grass behind the army as a backup, and asked Sheng Bin to be your sister's deputy. Just think about it, how short of people we are, and Sheng Bin is only over sixteen years old! This time he was transferred out. Think about it!"
I was silent the whole time. I was really so taught a lesson that I had no temper at all. My sister went to fight the bandits for me, but what was I doing
"You should return to Jingzhou soon. The teacher is in dire need of staff. If you come back, we will at least have more manpower available."
The next day, I needed Brother Yang to tell me jokes, because standing on the boundless Hongze Lake, thinking about the distant return day and my various unwise actions, I felt a little depressed. Brother Yang might feel that what he said to me yesterday was too harsh, so today he told me only good things. In fact, he deliberately left many questions for me to ask yesterday, but I was so sad and blamed myself yesterday that I didn't ask him. Today, he took the initiative to tell me those happy things.
Ziyu was originally in Hanzhong, but later he was transferred back because of a rebellion in the south. Moreover, it was because Zhou Mi and Zhou Cang did a really good job that they were relieved to let him come back. As for those two people, Zhou Cang was seventeen and Zhou Mi was sixteen. I am afraid there has never been such a young governor and pass guard. And they are well-respected. Zhou Mi is mature beyond his age. He is naughty as a teenager and can handle government affairs very steadily. Zhou Cang is a completely honest boy, but he is serious and down-to-earth in doing things, and he is more approachable than us.
They also successfully repelled a surprise attack by Dong Zhuo. But we were lucky to be able to repel it. Since the beginning of midsummer, Dong Zhuo has sent more than 10,000 troops to the front of the pass every five days to see if there is any opportunity to take advantage of. Sometimes he would come to the valley entrance to challenge us, but of course we ignored him. They stayed for one or two days and then withdrew.
In mid-autumn, the Double Ninth Festival was approaching. It was late at night, and it was the night when the enemy troops had just come and had just withdrawn. Everything was quiet. Suddenly, the ducks that our entire army was preparing to slaughter during the Double Ninth Festival on the cliff of Shushan Pass suddenly started to call. Zhou Cang was that as long as the enemy came, even if it had happened so many times, everyone thought that Dong Zhuo was just making a show of force and didn't need to care, but he still lived in the pass just in case. He got up immediately after hearing the sound, and found that the Xiliang people were climbing up at the edge of the cliff. The soldiers on guard thought it was okay, and many of them had fallen asleep. He hurriedly shouted, and the soldiers on the pass soon got up. At this time, some people from Xiliang had already climbed up. Under the leadership of the brave Zhou Cang, they finally drove the Xiliang people off the cliff again. The next day, they saw that there were more than 100,000 Xiliang people on the plain in front of them. In the end, the Xiliang people had no choice but to retreat. Afterwards, it was a Xiliang captive who told them that every time they came with 10,000 people, only 4,000 withdrew, and the others hid in the woods in front of the cliff. In this way, when we are paralyzed, once they attack, they will immediately have more than 100,000 people to control the entire Sichuan Pass, and it will be very difficult for us to drive them back, in fact, it should be almost impossible. From then on, Zhou Cang's cautious heart was recognized by everyone, and Ziyu could return to Jingzhou with peace of mind.
The floods this summer were mainly caused by the floods in the south of the Yangtze River. The Po River, Yuzhang River and other southern rivers all rose sharply, but the Han River was not affected. The migrant workers recruited this spring became the great heroes who saved Jingzhou. They not only built the Shushan Pass, but also repaired all the flood control dams in the entire Jingzhou. But I still have some doubts, and I must ask the teacher when I see him.
Zi Tong must be the most unlucky. He left Changsha after serving as the governor of Changsha for only a few days. He was originally in Changsha to replace Brother Yang, but the key point was that he also got married. His wife's name was not very good. In fact, it couldn't be bad, but at this critical time, her name was not good. In the end, he had to go to Yizhou to serve as the governor of Yong and leave this Xiaoxiang area. I forgot his wife's name, his wife was Huang Zexiang. But I also know that Zi Tong was not yet eighteen years old.
And a proud young man who is also not even 18 years old is about to become a father. He is Zishe. According to the news our people got from the capital, it should be the end of winter this year and the beginning of spring next year. However, there seems to be no movement from Zisheng yet.
Yujun was also pregnant, and this was discovered after a battle. Fortunately, Master's wife was in Nanye, and the child was fine, but even if we lost a general at once, we couldn't let my sister-in-law fight with a big belly. This made Jiang Zhengping Jinfan thief feel more constrained.
Ziyuan and Ziyue from the southwest did a good job. The southern barbarians came to harass them several times, but they always suffered at the hands of these two and ran away with their tails between their legs.
There are also some troubles in the northwest. It seems that someone has instigated them. Many foreign tribes have conflicts with Deng and his people. Fortunately, we have left a large number of troops there, and Deng and his people have trained their soldiers very well. In Xiliang, Ding Yuan has more than 300,000 troops in the north, Han Sui has more than 200,000 troops in the northwest, and there are more than 100,000 Qiang and Jie tribes in the western mountains. Deng relies on us, who almost occupy half of the entire Jingzhou, but only has more than 100,000 people. Surprisingly, the three parties dare not move now. But think about it, those who dare to move must be fools. The people of the various tribes in the mountains are about the same as us, and they may not win against us, so they will not fight with us easily, but can only harass us a little. Since the battle, Ding Yuan and Han Sui have not only lost a lot of troops, but also have grudges in their hearts. They are looking forward to the other side to fight, and will not do it themselves.
Li Zhen finally married Zhou Yu because he heard that Zhou Yu was very popular with Li Zhen's grandmother.
The next few days went by pretty well. I was basically fine, except that I wanted to sleep.
Three days later, we finally left the ship. Long Xing and the others began to walk unsteadily. It seemed that many people were like this, but I was fine. They didn't admit that they were shaking, and thought that it was the ground that was shaking. I thought of Zhang Heng. I thought I should take out the Hou Feng seismograph to show them who was shaking. I also thought of the couple. I wonder how Liu Wen is doing after returning to her parents' home.
Many horses were not in good condition. After getting off the boat, they were too tired to pull the cart and always wanted to collapse on the ground. We had no choice but to stop by Hongze to rest for a day.
On the second day, the horses finally regained their spirits. It was really troublesome for them to have been on the boat for more than half a month. I felt sorry for them because I didn't see anything and just slept all the way.
However, I started to ride in a carriage, because they all agreed that it would be better for me to pretend to be sick and go to Jiangnan, but it made me feel a little more comfortable. I lay alone in the carriage that was laid out for me, and they tossed me around for a long time outside the carriage. It had to match my status. I didn't mind, but Xu Zijiang Liu Yao would mind.
So, I continued to pretend to be sick.
Liu Yao politely saluted me outside the carriage, but I was already "unable to make any sound". Liu Yao asked me to have a good rest. He also told my men some things, as if they were his men.
I couldn't see his appearance, because I was in a "sleep" most of the time. I had to at least show some professionalism and sleep to the end.
Tao Qian came to visit me and brought me some tonic medicine. I still couldn't see what he looked like. At least he didn't lift the curtain to see me himself, but from the sound of his voice, he was much older than Liu Yao.
But when I got to Brother Yan's camp, I felt better. Although I was still restricted from leaving the car, I didn't have to pretend to be unconscious. Because someone might be watching me, Brother Yan only talked to me after we got in the car. In addition to greeting each other and talking about the brothers' marriages, we also talked about a lot of current affairs. Wensheng was probably more dull than Hongwei. It was mainly me and Brother Yang who talked, and he was more of a listener. I also mentioned my sister-in-law and asked him how his married life was. He refused to answer, but he didn't blush, but sometimes he got anxious.
After staying for a few more days, they escorted me to Qianshan, a town on the south side of Jiujiang River, with Qianshan next to it. We stayed in Qianshan Town for several days. This is also where Brother Yang and his troops are stationed, because they need to go down the Yangtze River by diving and go to Jiangnan to maintain various contacts with Jiang Zheng. Our route is to go directly to Jiangnan Jiangzheng first, and then turn to Jingzhou, because going directly west will lead to Yuzhou. Now, according to Liu Pi and Gong Du there are making a lot of trouble, and it may be very unsafe to go there. If we go along the Jiangnan line, at least we still have troops to help protect us.
They are here, so I can let them off a bit. Because we have to wait for the ship to arrive, and this place is under our control, so as long as I don't show off too much, there shouldn't be any problem.
On November 10, the second year of Zhongping, time passed quickly. Winter was already halfway through, but the weather was still not too cold. That morning, when I got up, I felt much better and more energetic. I found a bronze mirror in my residence and looked at my face carefully. My face was still a little pale, and my beard was already a mess. I decided to shave my beard. Xu Zijiang gave me a sharp blade and some medicine to stop the bleeding on the wound. Then the old sly guy ran away, just when I was feeling dissatisfied. Yu Ji made me feel relieved, so as not to put on a false pretense and not be able to see anyone.
I successfully shaved my beard for the first time, and I was very satisfied with the result, without using those medicines. I also had someone make me a new set of black clothes, a very ordinary set of thick winter clothes. I thought that no one would notice me.
I saw Long Xing again. I saw him with his wife. I remember the first words I said to him were "Long time no see." What surprised me even more was that he had grown a beard. I couldn't figure out why I was so surprised at the time. Unlike my messy beard, his beard was very energetic, with two neat lines under his nose, but there was also hair under his chin. I gave him the razor blade that Xu Zijiang had given me, and suggested that he clean up the messy weeds under his chin to avoid it being an eyesore. I also gave him the medicine.
I also met other people. Nan and Wenwen were inseparable, but they looked more like playmates. They were surprised at my new image. Wenwen was more hateful. She pretended to be a scholar.
When I saw Yan Rou, he was pointing a boy to wield the Fang Tian Hua Ji. But I had never seen this boy before. Yan Rou saw me and immediately greeted me. He also asked the boy to salute Ping An Feng Yun Hou.
The boy must have been misled by the rumors. He looked at me carefully for a long time and thought that I didn't look like him, and he was very serious. It was true that children speak without restraint. I liked this boy immediately. For this reason, I also mentioned his halberd to him. The boy was only about twelve years old and was a little thin, but he was quite strong. Although the Fang Tian Hua halberd was a wooden pole, it weighed more than ten pounds even with the halberd head in front. But he really looked good when he wielded it.
The halberd can be used as a spear, a knife, or a hook. Let him practice all the basic movements of this weapon based on the movements of these three weapons. He seems to have a good understanding ability. I asked him what his name was, and he told me loudly that his name was Song Qian. I asked him to follow Yan Rou. I think this person should be able to become a general in the future.
But he immediately knelt down in front of me again, hoping that I could rescue his brother from the bandit den. I asked him what happened, and he said that because of the flood in their area, many places had gathered together to become bandits. His cousin dragged him into the bandit den and asked him to participate in the robbery, so he became a bandit without knowing what was going on. He met a man of the same age in the bandit den, and they got along well, so the two of them became sworn brothers. They looked after each other. He hoped that we could rescue him, otherwise one day, when the government troops came to clear out the bandits, his brother would lose his life.
Twelve years old, he became a pirate at the age of twelve, what kind of world is this now? I asked myself this question, it is rare that Song Qian can still be so loyal and affectionate.
"What's your brother's name? I'll find someone to help me."
"My second brother is called Chen Wu. He is easy to recognize. He has red eyes and yellow hair. He is only eleven years old."
Eleven years old, he became a pirate at the age of eleven. This world is not good now. But this Chen Wu looks terrible.
I immediately sent someone to find Brothers Yan and Yang to talk to them about this. My letter said that since there was nothing to do in Yangzhou, why not go to Xuzhou to track down the bandit den in Jiulongkou for me, find out the culprit who hurt me, and rescue Chen Wu. After all, they are still children, and it is a bit too much to treat them as bandits.
Xu Zijiang and Yu Ji were going to say goodbye to us. They were going to Qianshan to meet an old friend of theirs. Then they would stay there for a while before going to Jingzhou. Anyway, it wouldn't be a problem for them to go to Yuzhou. Wenwen asked us to take her with us so that she wouldn't get bored in the mountains.
It was a bit boring to stay in Qianshan Town. Long Xing was waiting to be a father, Nan Jiansesewang was obviously more powerful than his brother-in-law, Tu Jinglie's wife was not easy for me to disturb, Yan Rou was handling all the affairs of the entire team, and also had to teach Song Qian martial arts. I just wanted to go to Qianshan to see the two seniors and their old friend.
That morning, it should be November 13th of the second year of Zhongping, there were clouds over Tianshan again, so I rode there, without the Tianlang or the iron bow, because it would be too conspicuous. I didn't tell anyone, but just left a note in the house. Qianshan is only a dozen miles away from Qianshan Town, and you can see the clouds and mist over it from Qianshan Town. It looks like a fairy mountain overseas.
There is a village at the foot of the mountain. I asked about the way up the mountain and went up. The villagers advised me not to go up. But I went up anyway. Since the two seniors went up, it should be no problem for me to go up. This mountain road is a bit dangerous. There is a very dangerous mountain road from the foot of the mountain to the mountainside. On one side is a hundred-foot cliff, and on the other side is an unclimbable cliff. The horse was a little bumpy on the stone road. I always felt that I would fall down or hit the mountain wall at any time. In this way, I circled around several large stone pillars with a feeling of trepidation, and then I reached a flat land on the mountainside. A green mountain suddenly appeared in front of me. Compared with the withered leaves at the foot of the mountain, this place is obviously much more refreshing.
The sky darkened, the mountain was covered with heavy fog, and a gust of wind blew. I felt that my clothes were still a little thin, so I hurried on. I wrapped my cloak tightly and rode my horse to search the flat ground. There was only one narrow path leading to the mountain, which seemed to have been walked by someone not long ago. It was quite steep, so I had to dismount, tie up the horse, and go up the mountain.
There was a lot of fog on the mountain, but luckily there was only one road, if it could be called a road. As the fog continued to come, the chill on my body grew. I didn't seem to be fully recovered yet, and I always felt a little cold.
I rubbed my arms vigorously and continued walking.
It started to snow, and the trees on the mountain began to thin out. There were many huge rocks on the mountain. Whenever I came to such rocks, I was in trouble because I didn't know where to go below. I looked for some footprints on the edge of these rocks, but soon everything became blurry, so I had to walk towards the vaguely visible mountain. Not long after walking, the snow stopped again. The clouds also dispersed, and I realized that the peak of the mountain was actually a huge rock, with a very clear boundary with the snow-covered pine and cypress trees below.
I suddenly felt poetic again, and sang out as I walked: "Yangzhou snows in the first month, Qianshan is white for a while; I don't know where it comes from? I can't find it by thinking. I suspect it is the pillar of heaven." I was about to express my feelings, but suddenly my poetic mood was interrupted. Because I saw someone, a young woman, a hundred steps away from me, which made me stop under the pine tree and quietly appreciate it:
She wore no heavy makeup, no fancy clothes, but was pure and elegant, standing tall and graceful; her slender waist in her plain clothes carried the wind as she walked among the pines and cypresses. On this white background, there was a painting whose artistic conception even famous artists could not describe.
I don’t know what I was thinking at that time, but I know I stayed there for a while. When I woke up, I found that I was covered with snow. I didn’t know when or where it fell from.
The woman stopped, as if to take special care of her, and the wind stopped too.
The woman used a whisk to brush away the thin layer of snow on a protruding stone. She took out an inkstone from her bag and poured some water from a leather bag. I was wondering at the time that the water should have frozen long ago at this temperature.
She started grinding ink, and I watched her quietly, not wanting to ruin this beautiful scene. After grinding for a while, she started writing something on the stone. I wanted to see what she was writing, but I was afraid that my presence would scare her.
In this way, she sometimes wrote furiously, sometimes closed her eyes and looked up at the sky in thought, sometimes with a smile, sometimes with sadness, as if she was conceiving her work. Her pretty face was undoubtedly the most beautiful picture on the snow.
Suddenly, the woman pressed her abdomen with her hands, which made me press my abdomen as well. I was a little confused. The expression on her face seemed to indicate that she was in great pain. I was a little panicked and didn't know what to do.
Just as I was about to help, she made a new move that stopped me in my tracks.
She picked up a stone from the snow and smashed it on the ground, repeatedly.
All of this made me feel completely bewildered. All of her actions seemed to make me very confused. I had no idea what she was going to do next.
It was not until much later that I found out what was going on. At that time, I just sat there stupidly under the pine tree, like a snowman, or as a snowman, quietly watching everything to see what was going on. Even then, I was not sure whether she was a real person.