After listening to all the instructions and finally seeing my sister off, I immediately went to look for my master's wife.
The first thing I said after seeing Master's Wife was a complaint: "Master's Wife, I was fine, but after drinking your medicine last night, I lost my appetite this morning."
"That's good. Ming's illness hasn't broken out yet. Silly child, will Master's wife harm you?"
"Zi Rui doesn't dare."
"It's all Dingguo's fault. He originally hated these complicated formalities, but ever since he became the governor, he has started to like them. And none of his subordinates can escape this habit." The teacher's wife shook her head, but I didn't dare to speak up for the teacher when she criticized him.
"Master's wife, but I really don't feel anything."
"You know the truth that illness comes like a mountain falling. It comes all of a sudden. But when you really fall, it's not so easy to cure. Do you understand?"
"Then Master's Wife, what happened to me? My sister was here last night, so I couldn't ask you."
"Zi Rui, have you ever suffered any serious internal injuries in your abdomen?"
"yes."
"More than once?"
"Yes, yes."
"Have you ever been poisoned?"
"Yes, yes, yes." I was completely overwhelmed.
"Have you ever been shot by an arrow? In the back, on the legs, or on the head?"
"Oh my god, Master's wife, you are simply a god. How can you even figure this out?"
"Oh, I listened to Li Zhen about being shot by an arrow." I was really shocked. I almost decided to follow my master's wife to study medicine, because it was amazing that she could even see this.
"There is a lot of blood stasis in your internal organs, which has blocked the flow of yin and yang energy in your meridians. You have gradually lost energy in the past few months. Do you feel anything?"
"Yes, I seldom take naps, but lately I always want to find a place to curl up at noon."
"The arrow that hit you is poisonous, but not serious. The injury from this poisonous arrow should be between the two internal injuries you suffered. The poison was mostly absorbed by the blood stasis in your abdomen, and later formed another layer of blood stasis on top of the original blood stasis, which ended up temporarily covering up the root of your illness. In addition, you are extremely strong, so you have been able to hold on until now. I think you are an outlier among the students in Jingzhou. The pulses of your classmates whom I have examined were mostly weak. Like your unfortunate teacher, they could not withstand the ravages of the disease. Unlike you, I thought you were scratching your drum skin at first." This sentence was quite exaggerated, but I was very happy, so I laughed naturally.
"Then I'm alright?"
"Whose?"
"I see you are relieved, I think I am fine."
"That depends on who you run into. If you run into me, you're lucky. Of course, if you run into my senior brother, that's also great."
"I touched him. But I was already poisoned by the arrow, and he didn't feel my pulse."
"Yes, if you don't get injured internally a second time it wouldn't be that serious. It will slowly be diluted by your own blood and slowly discharged by yourself. He only needs to look at the color of your face to know where you have the boil. But now the situation has changed. The poison is nurtured by you in the blood clot. When the blood clot slowly dissipates, you will be dead." The lightness and frighteningness of the master's wife's words were so distinct that I really didn't know whether to laugh or cry. The teacher must be having a headache. Behind such a pretty and gentle appearance is a girl with a mischievous mentality.
"Don't cry. I will treat you. Don't worry, no one will dare to take you to the underworld." Another sentence, I couldn't stand it anymore. I began to doubt that I didn't have any disease, but she just wanted to make fun of me. But when I thought about my master and my third uncle who were bullied by her, they were still alive and well without any sequelae. It didn't matter if I, a junior, was bullied by her. I felt like I was sacrificing my life for justice.
"Fortunately, it will take half a month for your blood clots to dissolve. Your life is really in danger. Within half a month, or even less than half a month, in a few days, I can cure you to the fullest, so that you can go back to celebrate the New Year in life." If one of my brothers had made fun of me like this, I would have thrown her into the river, raised my arms high, and looked for people to high-five and celebrate.
But she was my master's wife, so I obediently accepted her treatment, but her methods were simply unheard of.
I couldn't move, because I was no different from a hedgehog. The master's wife asked one of her students, who was a man, to pierce me naked into a furry hedgehog. Outside the tent, the master's wife somehow thought of the wolf. I looked more like my weapon now. But I didn't know why needles were stuck on my fingertips, and it was hard to find any part of my arms that was spared.
I couldn't stand it any longer, so of course I asked politely. She was dispersing the blood stasis this way. I asked if that would kill me. It's not like she didn't want to drink the medicine. Then soon I saw them bringing in a large jar of sticky brown liquid that smelled like disgusting medicine. I asked timidly if I had to drink so much. Master's wife, no, finish this first and then bring me another jar on the stove. It must be noted again that this jar is three feet high and much thicker than my waist.
I said there was no way I could finish it; she was fine, I didn't need to eat, my stomach was full.
I shouted in my heart: How cruel.
In this way, I began this pre-treatment process that was worse than death. They were very good to me and put a lot of licorice in the medicine, but it was this strange taste of sweet, bitter, sour and astringent that made me want to vomit. As a result, the master's wife heard the vomiting sound outside and immediately threatened me that if I dared to vomit, I would leak. She would let the female disciples feed me. When I saw my current appearance, I immediately decided to give up the useless resistance.
The juice was really hard to swallow, but after drinking a dozen sips, although I still felt a tremor after each sip, it seemed that my throat no longer cared about anything. So I decided to think about something else to dilute the current pain, but no matter how I thought about it, I remembered the painful memory of the last time my stomach was trampled by a horse.
After half an hour of tossing and turning, they removed the thorns from my body. With everyone's joint efforts, they gave me the medicine and I gave them my stomach, and finally all the things were poured into my stomach. I didn't expect that my stomach could hold so much, and I had a higher evaluation of myself. However, I think it would be wise to go to the toilet before thinking about the evaluation.
I always thought squatting in the toilet and being suffocated by the stench was a bad feeling. But today, I felt so happy squatting. I could only hear my stomach gurgling, and then, as the diarrhea continued, my stomach slowly became comfortable. I suddenly thought that being a stone in the pit had its own happiness, because through the gap in the reed fence, I clearly saw another jar of something being delivered to my tent. I shouted in my heart: Help! I thought of running away.
Unfortunately, I couldn't escape. There were people watching outside the toilet, and people would ask me how I felt from time to time. I cursed in my heart, and people urged me to go to the toilet. But in the end, I had nothing left in my stomach, so I had to come out in a bad mood. But I still had a good feeling, that is, I felt as light as a swallow and floating.
I never want to recall the pain. I squatted like this seven times that day, and when I came out, I couldn't even stand up straight.
However, I admit that I felt much more refreshed when I woke up the next day. But that doesn't necessarily mean that if I was in such a state yesterday, I would feel refreshed even if I had a high fever today.
The master's wife brought me both bad news and good news. The bad news was that she didn't expect me to drink so much. Originally, it was a cycle to eliminate toxins. She meant that when it was full, she asked me to release it. It was not necessary to drink a jar at a time. She didn't expect that I drank seven jars in just seven times. This shows that my carrying capacity is much stronger than that of ordinary people. Moreover, she felt my pulse and found no signs of blood and qi disorder, which shows that my body's tolerance is also very strong. So, she decided to increase the dosage today. The good news is that the treatment time may be shorter than the fastest time she imagined, a very illusory good news, because she neither had the fastest time she thought, nor how long it would take now.
On the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month in the second year of Zhongping, I had never been to the toilet so many times in one day because of diarrhea in my whole life. I didn't remember the exact number. But every time I went to the toilet, I would break a reed on the reed fence. If I saw a jar of medicine being delivered to the account office, I would break another one. When I went in at night, there was a big hole in the reed fence that I could stick my head and arms out. Moreover, the medicine was very painful when it came out.
I also went to the toilet several times late at night because I was used to it. If I didn't go there for a long time, I would always feel something was wrong.
On the twenty-sixth day of the twelfth lunar month in the second year of Zhongping, I woke up in the morning to find that my legs were bent like a squat toilet.
When I saw Master's Wife come in, I felt like a prisoner about to die. But this morning, Master's Wife came in and felt my pulse instead of waving her hand for them to bring in the torture instruments.
After a while, the master's wife suddenly let out a long sigh, and then looked at me, which made me feel confused.
"Good boy." At the same time, she slapped my shoulder heavily, which almost scared me to death. I quickly thought of the most terrible words that might appear in my head. Personally, I think this sentence is the most terrible: Good boy, yesterday, so many jars didn't hurt you. Today we will change the jars. Not many, fifteen jars is okay, right
"What's wrong? How much did you drink today?" I made up my mind and felt like a dead pig that was not afraid of boiling water.
"It's okay. You won't die. You're safe. The poison has been mostly eliminated. All that's left is to stop taking the medicine. You'll be fine."
"Don't want to take medicine anymore?" I felt a little dangerous. I was not going to be happy for a moment, but then they would bring some other thing in from behind.
"Eat, it's better to eat something, but not what you had yesterday, and don't eat so much. Child, do you know that I spoke to you in that tone that day just to reassure you and make sure that you were not in danger. In this way, the effect of the medicine can be maximized. If you are depressed, the yin and yang will be disturbed, and the medicine will have no effect. Now that the poison has been almost eliminated, I can tell you that you were really in danger a few days ago. If you stay in the horse for a long time, the poison may attack at any time. And it can attack the heart and spleen in an instant. At that time, the medicine and stones will not be able to attack and replenish well. I really have no way to do anything. I said fifteen days, which is actually longer, just to reassure you, but I was afraid that if it was too light, you would not treat me, so I had to tell you that your life was in danger. Fortunately, you are safe now, but today... Zirui, what are you doing?"
I was bowing to my lifesaver, because this sentence made me understand the painstaking efforts of the master's wife: "Master's wife, I thank you very much. If it weren't for you, I'm afraid my life would only be limited to these few days."
"Get up, bitch, don't try that on me." The mistress was a little angry, which scared me so much that I quickly got up to avoid retaliation.
"Master's wife, what about now?"
"Take tonic medicine, but it's okay, don't be nervous, it won't be that much. I added laxatives to the medicines for the past two days. Your body has lost a lot of salt water. Although I put some well salt in the medicine, it still doesn't cover the cost. Take some tonic medicine today. Drink rice soup with salt water in the morning, drink more at noon, and you can eat more at night. Go out for a walk today, I think you will be fine soon, and you can eat normally every day from now on."
"yes."
"Zi Rui, what are you doing now? You have to drink some rice soup. Don't run away now."
"I'll go squat for a while." I was a little embarrassed, but I still admitted it frankly.
After drinking the extremely sweet rice soup, they took away my bowl just when I was still not satisfied. I couldn't eat too much at once. So I had to dress up and go out for a stroll. I found that the weather was really good today, the sky was high and the clouds were light, and the soldiers were all laughing. I thought it was all over. Brother Chen also let everyone go of the reins. Soldiers from several places were throwing stones to compete for the winner, which made me think of the stone throwing master. They should be in Xiangyang now. Song Qian should be able to get along with Wu Yue.
I tried my best to suppress the urge to jump up and down, and walked to the riverside in a proper manner. During the few days I was in Zigui, the ice on the shore had basically melted away, and on the wide river outside Xiling Gorge, many boats were training with sails. The fastest of them was indeed the boat with two rows of oars, following the northwest wind with full sails, and with the oars hitting the water, it was like a fish jumping on the water. During this time, sometimes I saw the "fish" charging side by side, and other boats coming up from the side and back; or the "fish" boat turned over the oars and retreated, and other warships covered from behind; the training was really exciting.
However, accidents often happen, because there is another fishing boat on the shore. The "wound" on its side should be hit by the impact angle of the same kind. The craftsmen among the soldiers are removing several damaged side planks and replacing them with new ones.
This is not interesting at first, but after what Dong Zhuo did, I couldn't help but pay more attention to it. I saw wood chips on the ground beside the boat. As expected, they were of different thicknesses and sizes, and the larger pieces of wood were all over the ground. I picked one up at random and weighed it in my hand, but I couldn't think of what to do with it, so I threw it far into the water. I used too much force and felt that my stomach was displaced.
However, watching the piece of wood drifting away with the water, I clearly recalled the piece of wood that I had thrown away when I was lying on the raft due to internal injuries. I remembered that it was slowly thrown away by the raft.
"Zi Rui, why are you here? Are you feeling better?"
"Brother Chen, wait, don't disturb me, I feel like I have some clues... Brother Chen, do you still have those red sawdust? I want the ones that are not stained with clay, too."
"Yes, what's wrong?"
"Going downstream, shouldn't we be as fast as the water if we don't paddle?"
"That should be the case. I didn't stay on the ship for a long time and didn't pay much attention to it. What's wrong? What did you think of?"
"Brother Chen, give me some sawdust of each color, and help me find a fast horse."
Half a minute later, under the watchful eyes of the soldiers in the camp, I urged my horse to gallop upstream along the river. Along the way, I kept touching the bag of sawdust to prevent it from falling or spilling.
After an hour, the horse couldn't run any longer, so I got off the horse. I walked to the water's edge and went in without hesitation. The water wasn't very deep, so I could pour out all the sawdust in the middle of the water.
I hurried ashore, dragging my tired horse, and started chasing the wood chips that were slowly flowing down with the water.
This was a scene I had never expected, so much so that I tripped over rocks on the shore countless times. In the end, I was able to move my legs forward in time to avoid falling to the ground when I was tripped. My eyes were always following the wonders on the water.
The sawdust, originally in a mess, now united in the water. When I poured the sawdust, they were in a long snake shape, but now they slowly gathered into a ball, about eight feet in diameter. Moving with the water flow, they changed their shape from time to time, sometimes round, sometimes flat, and sometimes stretched out like a hand, then retracted into the circle.
The colors inside were round and mixed, like the beginning of a chaos, tangled for a moment. The river was sometimes narrow and sometimes wide, and the current was sometimes fast and sometimes slow, which made me and the floating wood chips go with the current, fast and slow.
But after a few hours, I was pulled by the horse, and the horse refused to move. I had seen the answer I had hoped for. How could I let this animal ruin my business? I pulled it a few more times, but it still didn't move, so I left it and went to see it myself. Unexpectedly, someone shouted at me from behind, and before I could react, I stepped on empty air. When I came to my senses, I had already fallen into the water. Seeing the berth made of wooden blocks above, I knew I was back to the camp. Looking at the wide water in front of me, I knew I was now soaking in the winter Yangtze River.
"Quickly find General Chen!" I shouted as I watched the wood chips being dispersed by the rushing river water.
"I saw it." The voice was a little deep, as if the speaker was still thinking about something.
The sound came from the shore, and I grabbed the wooden piles of the berth and struggled to climb out of the water. When I looked again, the wood chips were blown into clumps and had no shape.
"I mixed them together. By the time we got here, we had already walked a hundred miles. The red ones had already run ahead."
“That is to say…” Brother Chen suddenly became a little dull.
"Brazil is at least 1,280 miles away from here. At that time, they threw everything down together, but they never expected that the heavy things would slowly rush ahead. Heavy things flow faster when they go downstream, but I still don't know why."
"Dong Zhuo didn't think of this, so he probably didn't build any ships?"
"right."
"Then we..." I don't know what's wrong with Brother Chen today.
"Leave a naval camp here to continue training, and the rest will return to Jingzhong to prepare for farming."
"Okay, after dinner, come to my tent to discuss it." Brother Chen had to ask someone to see if he was sick.
As I watched him go away, I realized that I was soaked through and shivered when the wind blew. I don't know why I didn't feel cold on the way, I remember I went into the water when I started upstream. When I looked at the sky, it was almost evening. I hurried back to the tent to dry myself and change clothes, and then I went out of the tent. I remembered that I could have dinner tonight. At this time, I was so hungry that I couldn't express it in words.
Unexpectedly, I was stopped by the master's wife as soon as I left the tent, and then I started to scold her. I knew I was in the wrong, and I had not come back for a day and had not taken the tonic, so I had to take the soup that was said to be heated up again and again, and drank it in one breath. I didn't even know what it tasted like, so I returned the bowl. The master's wife finally changed her anger into joy, and smiled and let me go to eat with everyone.
I had a very good appetite that night, and I had never eaten such a delicious meal, especially the pickles, which were simply first-rate. The food in the army was surprisingly delicious, and the bowls were so big that I could finish a bowl in just two or three bites.
The soldiers with me were all very surprised. Every time I served rice, I would notice the strange looks from my brothers next to me. Every time I served more rice, the soldiers looked at me with more surprise and astonishment. I arrived a little late, and they all finished eating quickly. Only I was still there stuffing bowls of rice into my mouth. Later, when I saw that everyone had finished eating, I unceremoniously took the rice bucket and started eating.
After finishing the meal, I leaned against the tent with great satisfaction, and was completely immersed in a kind of happiness. I just thought about how good it was to have a full meal.
"What are you talking about me? Don't think I didn't hear you because I was eating."
"Fengyun Hou, you are amazing. You can eat so much. Do you know how much you have eaten?"
"I don't know, and I can't remember what it tasted like. I just know it was delicious. Anyway, I was full." I squinted my eyes happily and looked at them. The flickering lights in various parts of the camp forced me to squint my eyes.
"How much did Fengyun Hou eat?" Obviously other people were more concerned about this question than I was.
"Eleven bowls, and then the half bucket below." There was an exclamation from the side.
"No wonder he became the Marquis of Ping'an Fengyun." It seems that in their minds, the higher the official rank, the more useless he is.
"This relationship doesn't make sense, right? Just think of me as a good-for-nothing."
"You don't need us, you are the one." After making this joke, the group dispersed.
How could I be angry? I just smiled, took a short break, stood up and went to meet Brother Chen.
The guard outside Brother Chen's tent stopped me for a moment, but when he saw it was me, he let me in. It seemed that Brother Chen only wanted to see me tonight.
I suddenly remembered that Brother Chen this afternoon was completely different from Brother Chen usual. That calm and relaxed feeling was completely gone, replaced by loss of spirit and dullness.
"Zirui, come in if you're here." Brother Chen noticed my hesitation at the door, and I also found that Brother Chen's voice seemed to be much older.
"Brother Chen." I came in and bowed respectfully, and Brother Chen stopped me with his hand.
"It's your turn to salute you!"
"What's wrong, Brother Chen?" In order to prevent Brother Chen from really saluting me, I held Brother Chen's arms.
Brother Chen cried! Since I met him, he may be cold and sad, but I have never seen him cry. I immediately panicked and didn't know what to do.
He shook off my arms, turned back to his seat, and motioned for me to sit opposite him. He wiped away the tears from his eyes. He regained his resolute expression, "I listened to the report of the soldiers who went with you to Zigui. Brother Chen doesn't have your courage. This matter was not your fault, but you took the responsibility. But what about me?"
So it's about this matter. I have a solution: "I came up with this plan. You just acted according to my plan. Although I didn't really command, according to your law, I was just a puppet, a cover that could do nothing. But after all, it was a war fought in my name and with my plan. I must take full responsibility for this war. I can never ignore the hundreds of thousands of people who died in vain because of my fault. Therefore, I must do this. Although I still won't forgive myself, I at least admit it. I have the motivation to live and continue to work hard, and I can continue to be my usual self without constantly belittling myself. I think what I want to do now is to eliminate Dong Zhuo and let the people of Yizhou return home."
Brother Chen shook his head. "You are so good. Let me tell you a story... I think you have guessed it. It is my story. But when this story begins, my name is Chen Dongliang. Because of the kindness of my ancestors, I quickly became a cavalry captain as soon as I joined the army, commanding thousands of people in Xiliang. At that time, Chen Dongliang was about your age. He was full of energy and thought everything was easy. He could do it himself without any problems. I was also very appreciated and everything went smoothly."
Brother Chen pressed his arms hard on the table, as if forcing himself to tell everything.
"In the fifth year of Jianning, the name was changed to the first year of Xiping. There was a general amnesty throughout the country. In order to show that the country was peaceful, the people were strong, and the barbarians were subdued, the tributes of the surrendered ethnic groups in the autumn of that year had to be collected again. So our cavalry camp stationed at the northern foot of the Qilian Mountains went to the surrendered Qiang tribe on the mountain to collect horses. The Qiang people refused to give them. For this reason, the cavalry camp at the northern foot of the Qilian Mountains also fought a battle with the Qiang people. I think we haven't fought for a long time, and the Qiang people are also very brave, and we actually defeated them. This matter was reported to Wuwei, and the general of Dingxi The higher-ups were furious, and they blamed us for not doing our job well. I suggested that we report the rebellion of the Qiang people. General Dingxi was my uncle, and he thought this plan was feasible. Seeing that there were no generals around, he asked me to lead 10,000 cavalry camps to suppress the rebellion. The Qiang people had already lost many men in the original battle, and I suppressed them without much effort. They begged for peace against their will, were willing to hand over hostages, and paid tribute on time. At that time, I was really proud of myself, and felt that I was the best general in the world. "
At this point, Brother Chen paused for a moment before continuing: "I looked around the camp of the Qiang people who I had defeated and begged for peace. I thought they were fierce and unruly, but I found that they were completely different from what I imagined. They lived in extreme poverty. Water had to be carried from the mountains to melt snow. There was no tent that was not old and dilapidated, and all kinds of utensils were simple and broken. It was in the mountains. Although it was only the Mid-Autumn Festival, it was already very cold. However, both the elderly and children could only wrap themselves in some tattered sheepskin, which could not block the cold air from the Qilian Mountains. They looked at me shiveringly. The gods were filled with resentment and hatred, which makes me shudder even when I think about it now. They make a living by herding, and their income mostly comes from selling horses and sheep. They also have to ride horses to herd various livestock. Horses are their lifeblood. Now many young and strong men have been killed. How will they live in the future? But in order to make up the number of taxes for us, they even have to offer all their pregnant mares and foals, and even have to pay for horses for us from their own tribe. But after this incident, I was promoted, and the title was very ironic, it was called General Protector of the Qiang. "
"It was a big shock to me at this time. I felt deeply guilty and uneasy. I told the general that we couldn't do this, as it would kill the Qiang people. The general asked me in return, "Do you know how the Qiang people treated our people in the past? Although we are a little harsh on them now, it is also a favor to them to let them live. Our Qiang people have long surrendered to us and have been controlled by our Han people. We should also protect them instead of forcing them to death like this." He waved his hand and told me not to worry about it. We even gave them the mares and foals, and treated them very well."
"That title brought me no honor, but made me feel deeply ashamed. I couldn't sleep for a few days after receiving the title, and I kept dreaming that I was in the Qiang camp and was being cursed. After the title is awarded, I will release the hostages and give them my reward money to buy horses and clothes as compensation."
"But," Brother Chen's slow and heavy tone suddenly changed, "Unexpectedly, the brother-in-law of the Empress Dowager Dong was the special envoy who sent tribute to celebrate the occasion. This bastard was also rewarded for this and was granted the title of Xiliang. The horses were useless to the palace, so they were given to him. He was very dissatisfied with the horses and even accused us of hiding the bodies and reported us. The Empress Dowager Dong ordered people to investigate. When they went to the Qiang people, they saw many newly bought horses by the Qiang people. Now we are not clear. The General Dingxi and my Chen family are old friends, so he made it clear that he had warded off disaster for me and continued to falsely accuse the Qiang people of hiding the bodies. I didn't want to harm the Qiang people either, so my uncle came up with an idea for me and asked me to tell the Qiang people that someone in the court was going to harm them, and to leave them behind some useless belongings... I used those Qiang people who I had released and who were still grateful to me to tell them to leave as soon as possible. In order to avoid passing by our camp and causing us more trouble, we asked them to raft from Ruoshui to the banks of Juyan Lake to settle down. Anyway, the Xiongnu disaster was annihilated by then, and they could live better there. We burned their belongings, reported the matter, and sent the nepotist away."
"As expected, the higher-ups charged the Qiang people with deceiving the emperor. The former emperor's brother-in-law was sent to be the military supervisor. I hated him so much. He knew nothing but put on airs and let us worship him. He also thought that his achievements were great. Every time I saw him like that, I wanted to spit on him. I made sure that the Qiang people had withdrawn before I sent troops to suppress them. Then I sent our vanguard team to set off first. When I and that bastard arrived there, everything the Qiang people had left behind had been burned to ruins, and they had fled without a trace. That bastard gnashed his teeth and wanted to kill the Qiang people, but we drove him away. He was a fool, but he had strong men under his command. They actually found traces of the Qiang people making rafts, so he chased them from the land and killed them along the river. Of course, everyone laughed at him for knowing nothing. We had to tell him that the Ruoshui River was in the mountains and we couldn't get close to the river. He went directly to the downstream to block it. He listened to his subordinates and went to Juyan Lake. We told him that it was autumn and the area around Juyan Lake was full of swamps. We would get stuck there and wait until winter when it froze. He didn't want to listen, and immediately asked us to make rafts, chase them and kill them. This man was really hateful, and I wanted to kill him at that time. "
"He told us to set up a raft and chase them. I told him that it would be difficult for us to come back if we went. The guy refused to listen. He told me that I would not chase him. He took his men to chase them. I laughed at them at that time. There was no way that a dozen rafts carrying so many people and so much food could catch up with the Qiang people's light rafts."
"But a month later, some Qiang people came to seek revenge on me and were captured by my guards. I wanted to ask why, but no one was willing to answer me, and they just glared at me. A few days later, news came from Dunhuang in the west that the beasts defeated the Qiang rebels in Ruoshui. Then I understood the reason... "Brother Chen suddenly looked solemn. "Finally, my uncle and I said goodbye. I was stabbed by the Qiang people and was seriously injured. I died in the end. Then I took those Qiang people and attacked that hunchback at night on the road. I rescued the captured Qiang people who were going to offer tribute. I also killed that hunchback to prevent future troubles. Since then, Chen Dongliang died and tied with the Qiang Marquis. Only my people and I lived in Jingzhou. I married a Qiang woman. Later, I was called Chen Liang. I grew a beard and fattened myself. In short, I am no longer the person I used to be. However, I put all the blame on that dead hunchback. In fact, all of that was caused by me. I have been with them for so many years, but I have never been truly happy. I know that it was my repeated lies and frame-ups that sent them on this road of no return."
Brother Chen was done and looked at me, I didn’t know what to do.
"I was the same as you when I was young, but the only difference is that you are not as sophisticated and hypocritical as me. Everything you say is true, and I can tell what you are thinking by looking at your face. But I was so smart that I thought I could deceive people here and there, and my Chen family would also be honored, and I could live up to my ancestors; my wife's family over there regarded me as their savior, but they didn't know that all the troubles that followed were caused by me; I thought that after changing my name and changing my prime minister, I could calm my mind and feel that I had a clear conscience. But after all these years, I still can't forget those old things, and I always feel guilty and can't feel at ease. But the matter of Xinye and the matter of Zigui today, your actions made me think it through completely."
"Brother Chen, that's not necessary. I have lied to people before, and I feel even more ashamed when you say that."
"I know what you are talking about. How can this be compared to the two armies fighting each other? At that time, either the Han Dynasty would perish or there would be peace. Your actions at least saved so many young and strong men, allowing the world to live in peace earlier and the people to settle down earlier... Your words are a bit absurd. Do you think our Han Dynasty should perish?"
"I dare not." I thought about it and realized that this sentence had no effect of comforting me, and would only make me feel worse. I didn't know if I really had some rebellious intentions, but I decided to interrupt my thoughts as soon as possible.
"They are the people of our Han Dynasty. I remember you have been like this before, so you always sincerely do what you should do and take the initiative to take responsibility. But I evaded responsibility and always wanted to have it all to myself, but in the end I was exhausted. At that time, I thought they would never catch up with the Qiang people, so I did not stop them, and even wanted to add to their burden, leaving tens of thousands of people's dry food to them. In fact, I pushed so many Qiang people to death step by step. I am not as open-minded as you, and you are honest and sincere. Therefore, I live in pain, but you live in happiness. I want to tell you what's in my heart, and I hope you won't laugh at me. I have been feeling aggrieved for too long and have no one to talk to. Perhaps only Zirui can let me talk without any worries."
I asked Brother Chen if he would do this to my sister-in-law in the future, and he said yes without hesitation.
I know I won't tell anyone about this, but I don't know if Brother Chen will tell anyone about this. Brother Chen's idea was good, but he might just be unlucky. He's not as lucky as me.
The next day, I left. Before I left, I asked Brother Chen to take care of himself and if there was anything I could do. Brother Chen must have finally felt relieved and could smile. He also asked me if I wanted to bring soldiers to protect me. I was already back home, so what was I afraid of? The soldiers also made a noise, saying that anyone who dared to rob me was a fool. Brother Chen did not stop them, but just smiled.
The master's wife would definitely go back before the New Year, so she asked me to tell the teacher. She gave me a prescription for nourishing my body, and then let me go.
I walked very fast along the way. In the land of my hometown in Jingzhou, I changed horses at every post station and ate at every county. I arrived in just one day. I was so happy to return home that I couldn't express it in words. I just urged my horse forward. Although I was alone, I felt as happy as if I had good friends to accompany me. Shortly after nightfall, I returned to Xiangyang. The city gate officer was also an acquaintance. I said "old brother" in Jingzhou dialect, and he opened the door for me happily. After the greetings, I mentioned that I would go home first, because it was too late today, and I would go to see the governor tomorrow. But he told me that my family had moved. I asked where they moved to, and he said it was the Prince of Xiangyang Mansion. Don't joke with me, although there is no King of Xiangyang now, it is the Prince of the County Mansion, which has been sealed. They told me that it is now the Xiangyang Branch Courtyard of the Prince of Ping'an County Mansion. There is no need for many smart people. I knew what was going on, so I said goodbye and left.
It is impossible for the natives of Xiangyang not to know about the Xiangyang Palace. But my sister is the only one living there, and I am afraid she will be exhausted to death by the bad guy Kong Ming.
It was late at night, I was walking on Xiangyang's main road with my horse. I had not been home for a long time, and now I was completely venting all my longing for home. I just looked around, just like a long-lost son. My heart was completely immersed in a peaceful and comfortable state. Here I really felt safe, happy, and all the good things were back with me. I was finally home!
A group of night patrol soldiers passing by rushed over as soon as they saw me, ruining my self-intoxicated feeling. They first pretended to ask who I was, and I answered you; they asked me what I was doing, and I went home; they asked me who I was going back to, and they asked all these questions, and I was annoyed that you probably knew them better than me. Then they were not polite to me, and directly asked me if I had brought anything back for my brothers after being out for half a year. I knew I was in the wrong, so I didn't want them to think that I had lost my loyalty after becoming a high-ranking official and had forgotten my brothers in Xiangyang. I immediately handed over all the change from my pocket to treat them to a drink to show my repentance, and said that I would definitely treat them to a good meal in the future, and then I sent away this group of natives who were begging for money. I thought to myself that if I ran into another group of them, I would be in trouble.
Fortunately, this kind of thing is not as tragic as I imagined. When I led the horse to the Xiangyang Palace, I saw no trace of the patrol except the change of the words on the plaque. I cursed in my heart, coming back like a thief. There were also soldiers at the gate of the Prince's Mansion. When they saw me coming back, they immediately wanted to shout, but I stopped them immediately. I handed him the horse rope and asked him to put on nothing. Because I could see the lights in the main hall in front.
The Prince of Xiangyang's Mansion, now the Prince of Ping'an's Mansion, must be for the Lady of Ping'an to live in, and her brother to live there "by the way". It's just that the place is too big, and it seems a bit exaggerated for us to live there. But the lights in the main hall are still on, which makes me know that my sister is still awake. Is she dealing with government affairs? The teacher is too harsh. My sister is such a sleepy person, and he is still asking her to be busy at this time. But my sister is too formal. At this time, she should go back to her own couch and fall asleep as soon as she finishes her work.
I slowly leaned over the window pane, slightly pushed open the unfastened window frame, and looked inside secretly. I immediately knew what was going on. A guy named Kong Ming was actually copying something on a bamboo slip with a brush, but he pouted, clearly saying: I don't like studying; Song Qian was not far away from him, also fiddling with a pen with a bored expression. Then there was the back of my dear sister, who was supervising these two guys who didn't like studying, and seemed to be sewing clothes at the same time. I had to go in, and I didn't want my sister to find out, so I gently pushed open the window frame and slowly leaned in with my whole body.
Song Qian had already started to doze off, but Kong Ming noticed me. But I immediately made a gesture, Kong Ming looked at my sister, smiled at me slightly, and then lowered his head to continue copying. He only looked up at my sister from time to time, as if he was helping me monitor whether my sister felt the danger coming. You are really a child, if you look at my sister like this, she will definitely find something wrong.
I immediately quickened my pace, jumped behind my sister, and placed my big head steadily on her shoulders.
"Kong Ming..." My sister was startled. She immediately pulled herself out from under my chin and took a few steps to the distance in a somewhat embarrassed manner. She turned around. My sister was really brave. I glanced at her and continued to ask the bad guy in front of me who was indeed a little fatter: "Have you listened to me recently?"
"I have always listened to Sister Sima." At the same time, he pointed at his sister with his left hand and smiled at me.
"Sister Sima?" I had a bad feeling. I slowly turned my head, and when I saw "Sister", I immediately backed away and sat down.
"Who are you? Why are you touching my sister's clothes?" I suddenly thought: Could this be my first wife whom I have never met