son-in-law

Chapter 723 Qin Yin Ancient Ambush ([-])

In the northwest, in dog days, there are large tracts of wheat fields. In the distance of the wheat fields, there is a tree.

People in ragged clothes gathered under this tree. Zheng Huixin was one of them. She was eight years old. She was wearing tattered clothes. Her face was stained with sweat and stains. Her hair was cut short and messy. No one could see her. Turns out she's actually a girl.Her father, Zheng Laocheng, sat next to him, weak and tired like all refugees.

The Zheng family was in the city of Yanzhou. Originally, it was a well-rounded scholar. The old town of Zheng ran a private school, which was respected by the people nearby.When the city of Yanzhou was destroyed, the Xixia people looted the city and stole most of the Zheng family's belongings. At that time, because the Zheng family had several private cellars that were not discovered, the Xixia people stabilized the situation in the city, and the Zheng family was not attacked. Pushed to a dead end.

However, it is precisely because of the existence of several private cellars that the Zheng family are reluctant to leave and do not know where to go.The nearby Xixia soldiers occasionally came to the door, and the family members were often bullied. It may be that they noticed that the Zheng family had surplus food, and the frequency of Xixia people forcing them to the door gradually increased. Until half a month ago, Zheng Huixin's mother died.

Zheng Laocheng didn't tell her how her mother died, but soon after, her father, who was in the shape of a shell, took her out of the city and started to go somewhere she didn't know.There are also many refugees in the same ragged clothes on the road. The Xixia people occupied the neighborhood. In some places, there are still traces of houses or cottages that were burned down in the military disaster. There are human footprints, and there are large areas of wheat fields. Sometimes Zheng Huixin would see the expressions of the people who traveled with him when they stood on the road like a father and looked at the wheat fields, which was so empty that it reminded people of the sand on the ground.

When the Xixia people came over, they robbed and slaughtered the city, but after a while, things calmed down again, and the surviving people resumed their old lives-after all, no matter what kind of rule, there must be the existence of subjects.Can not surrender to the Wu Dynasty, surrender to Xixia, after all, is the same life.

But Zheng Laocheng is a scholar, and he can understand that more difficult days, such as hell, are still to come.The wheat that people planted this year, all the harvest is no longer theirs. No matter how well the wheat is planted this autumn, most people have been unable to obtain food.Once the previous storage is exhausted, the northwest will experience a more difficult winter of food shortages, most of the people will be starved to death, and only the real Xixia Shunmin will survive after this.And this kind of obedience is not good.

With the arrival of the harvest season, more and more people can see this scene. In the eyes of those who are looking at the large fields of wheat on the road, there is the paleness of true despair. They have planted something, and now These things are still in front of them, and they look so good, but they are destined to not belong to them. What awaits them may be starved to death.There is nothing more frustrating than this.

Along the way, I occasionally encountered Xixia soldiers, intimidating everyone with bows and arrows, knives and guns, and strictly forbid them to approach those wheat fields, and sometimes hanging corpses could be seen beside the wheat fields.At this time, it was noon, and the group took a rest under the tree by the roadside. Zheng Laocheng was too tired, leaning on the roadside, and fell asleep in a short time.Zheng Huixin sat next to her with her legs in her arms. She felt her lips were thirsty, she wanted to drink water, and she wanted to find a convenient place.The little girl stood up and looked left and right, and then walked over to a cave not far away.

She took off her trousers and squatted for a moment in the soil.I don't know when, my father's voice came faintly, and there was a little anxiety in the words.Zheng Huixin couldn't see the situation over there, so she broke two branches from the ground, and another voice came, but it was the loud shout of the Xixia people, and the father was also shouting anxiously: "Hui Xin—daughter—are you here? where--"

The voices of the Xixia people were still ringing, but the father's voice stopped abruptly. The little girl put on her pants and ran out from where. She saw two Xixia soldiers, one holding a bow and the other holding a knife, drinking by the roadside, and the people under the tree were confused. In one piece, the father's body was lying on the edge of the wheat field in the distance, with an arrow stuck in his chest, a patch of blood.

"Ah... ah uh..."

The world was becoming chaotic and pale, she walked over there, but someone was holding her back...

The memory after that is muddled.

She was fed, dragged, and sometimes carried or held.It was a middle-aged man in his thirties and 40s, with shabby clothes, a burden on his back, and strong arms. Sometimes he talked to her, but her spirit was in a trance, and it rained again on the road.At some point, all the companions disappeared, and they passed through the desolate mountains. Of course, the little girl didn't know where it was, but there were tall and short trees, rugged mountain roads, and loose strange rocks around.

At noon, the sun was shining again, and they stopped in the little wood.Zheng Huixin was already able to eat mechanically, holding a small broken bowl and eating the fried rice in it, suddenly, a voice suddenly sounded, screaming like a ghost.

"Eh-yah-"

Zheng Huixin only felt that her body was pushed, the sound of ping sounded around, and the fast and fierce voices of Xixia people could be heard in her ears. Swinging the knife, swinging the knife and swinging the knife, a bright red light lit up in the field of vision.The little girl seemed to see him stab a Xixia man to death on a tree trunk with a sharp knife, and then the other person's face suddenly enlarged, he rushed over, took her with one hand in his arms, and ran fast among the trees.

The trees all fell towards the back in the field of vision, and the terrifying shouts were heard in the ears, and the Xixia people were also walking through. The man held a knife in one hand and fought the other side all the way. For a moment, the little girl felt his body shake. , but was slashed by the person who was chasing behind him, and the fishy smell permeated his nostrils.

In the blink of an eye, the light in front of them expanded, and the two had already rushed out of the woods. The Xixia villain chased and killed them. This was a steep soil slope.The two sides ran and fought, and then, the wind whistled and the vision spun sharply.

The sound of clattering has already sounded. The man hugged the little girl, forcing the Xixia people to run down the steep slope. The footsteps of the two were accompanied by the speed of rushing down. The soil and stones flowed rapidly in the field of vision, rising huge dust.Zheng Huixin only felt the sky shrink rapidly, and then, with a bang!
After a long time, Zheng Huixin felt her body move slightly. It was because the man holding her was trying to stand up from the ground. They had already reached the bottom of the hill.Zheng Huixin turned her head hard to look, and saw that the man was holding a bloody, brain-shattered head with one hand. Looking at the man's hat and braids, he could recognize that he was the Xixia man.The two sides rushed down the steep hillside together. The Xixia man was at the bottom, his head was bleeding and his internal organs were torn apart. Zheng Huixin was protected by the man in his arms, and the injury was the smallest. With injuries and the blood of Xixia's enemies, half of his body was infected at this time.

"Are you OK."

She heard the man ask weakly.

"It's fine."

The man put her down, untied the Xixia people's clothes in front of her, searched, and took the waist cards and dry food from the Xixia people.The sun was still blazing, and the blood-stained man with a knife in one hand and the child's hand in the other walked staggeringly towards the other end of the mountain.

This evening, they came to a place. A few days later, Zheng Huixin learned the man's name from someone else's mouth. His name was Qu Qing, and the valley they came to was called Xiaocanghe.

**************
In June, in the river valley, the daily construction and military training did not stop from beginning to end.

Everything is operating smoothly as usual. When the daily work is completed, the soldiers will either listen to books, sing operas, or listen to the news from outside, and discuss the current situation with their friends.It's just that at this time, the power of the Xixia people and the Jin people to block the outside world has begun to show, and the news from outside the mountain has been relatively less, but from this blockade atmosphere, keen people often Can feel more personal information.The looming crisis, the pressure to act, and so on and so forth.

Xiao Canghe's communication with the outside world is not limited to the informant he released.Sometimes there will be lost refugees who accidentally enter the range of the mountains and fields - although I don't know if they are foreign spies, but usually the surrounding defenders will not embarrass them, and sometimes they will be kindly sent to Yanaka. More dry food, send it away.

And there is one thing in this communication with the outside world, which is the strangest and most intriguing.The first time happened at the end of last year. There was a caravan that might be transporting grain, and dozens of porters came to this mountain with their burdens. It seemed that they had lost their way. When the people from Xiao Canghe appeared , The other party was taken aback, put down all the grain burdens, and ran away like that, so Xiao Canghe harvested dozens of grains that seemed to be delivered.This kind of thing happened again when spring was about to pass.

Not many people in Gu Zhong knew about the whole thing, so Ning Yi directly called the shots and sealed up nearly a hundred load of grain and rice in the warehouse.The third time it happened was at noon on June [-], when dozens of loaders of grain were carried by porters, accompanied by some guards, and entered the area of ​​Xiaocanghe, but this time, they put down the load and did not leave.

An old man with white hair, but graceful clothes and sharp eyes, stood in the middle of the team, and when the guards around Xiaocanghe came over, someone handed him a famous post.

There are only three words on the name sticker: Zuo Duanyou.

After a while, Qin Shaoqian in military uniform greeted him from the valley.He is now a rebel bandit who has raised troops to rebel against the whole world, but he is the only one who dare not neglect him.

**************
When the Wu Dynasty was still prosperous, Emperor Jinghan Zhou Zhe had just ascended to the throne. There were three famous Confucian scholars in the court. They were in high positions, and they were like-minded.They planned a lot of things together, and the Secret Investigation Division was one of them. It was one of them that provoked civil strife among the Liao people and made the Jin people rise.The three were Qin Siyuan, Zuo Duanyou, and Wang Qisong.

During the implementation of these major events that subverted the world, many problems were encountered.Among the three, Wang Qisong's theory and methods are the most correct, Qin Siyuan has a very deep Confucian attainment, but his methods are relatively utilitarian, Zuo Duanyou has an extreme temperament, but his family has deep roots.After a lot of joining forces, they finally parted ways because of such and such problems.Zuo Duanyou sued for his old age, and Wang Qisong left in a political dispute to protect Qin Siyuan's position. After that, it was the Black Water Alliance that the Liao people went south.

This time, Wang Qisong led his family to defend against the Liao soldiers, and almost all the male members of the family died, only Wang Shanyue was the only seedling left.

After the Black Water Alliance, due to the tragedy of the Wang family, Qin and Zuo further broke apart, and they have almost no contact since then.In the later disaster relief incident in the Northland, Zuo Houwen and Zuo Jilan were involved, and Qin Siyuan wrote to Zuo Duanyou.This is the first contact between the two in many years, in fact, it is also the last contact.

After Qin Siyuan's death, the three people who used their means to change the situation in the world are now the last old man.

Qin Shaoqian and the Zuo family made good friends many years ago. It is not the first time that Qin Shaoqian has seen him. Missing an eye.The two sides met without much chatting. The old man looked at Qin Shaoqian's black blindfold and frowned slightly. Qin Shaoqian introduced him into the valley. This afternoon, he and the old man worshipped Qin Siyuan's tomb in the valley. The situation is not talked about too much.As for the food he brought, like the previous two batches, it was stored separately in the warehouse.

That night, Ning Yi, Su Tan'er and Ning Xi participated in the family banquet to welcome the old man.

The next morning, Ning Yi came forward and accompanied the old man around the valley.Ning Yi respected the old man. Although the old man had a serious face, he always looked at him as a brain in the rebel army.In the afternoon, when Ning Yi went to see him again, he sent a few bound new books.

"This is what Mr. Qin has been doing before his death. There are several books he annotated that no one in the world would dare to read in a short period of time. I think Duke Zuo can take it back and read it."

"Annotated Collection of Chapters and Sentences of the Four Books", signed Qin Siyuan.Zuo Duanyou just got up from his nap at this time, stretched out his hand and stroked the cover of the book, his eyes were quite moving, his serious face relaxed a little, slowly rubbed it twice, and then spoke.

"I came here today, and I saw your situation in the valley. My Zuo family can help with the lack of food."

The two sides have been in contact and will talk about this direction, which is something that has long been expected.Sunlight poured in from the window, and cicadas chirped in the valley.In the room, the old man sat, waiting for the nod from the other side to solve the whole problem for this little river valley.Ning Yi stood and was quiet for a long time, then slowly handed over and said, "There is a solution to the lack of food in Xiaocanghe, so there is no need to trouble Duke Zuo."

Zuo Duanyou looked at him, his eyes were like electricity: "The old man said that one is one, and two is two. I have never liked to be around and bargain. I heard when I was away that the demon Ning Yi was cunning, but he was not sloppy and soft-hearted. Man, if you use this scheming on this old man, wouldn't you be too clueless!?"

Ning Yi cupped his hands and bowed his head: "Old man, what I said is true."

"You're joking with everyone's lives?"

"If the Zuo family only provides food and doesn't say anything, I naturally want to take it. I just want to come, it's not that simple, right?"

The old man frowned, and after a while, he snorted coldly: "The situation is stronger than people, and you and I can ask and need to be laid out one by one. Do you think the Zuo family is taking shelter from you? Ning family boy, if not For the sake of being the last of the Qin family, I won't come. I think you know that. The Zuo family will help you, and you will have your own needs, but it will not check and balance you too much. The emperor has been killed, what are you afraid of?"

Many major events in the world sometimes depend on the tireless efforts and negotiation of countless people, and sometimes they depend on decisions made between a few words and a few words.There is an unquestionable friendship between Zuo Duanyou and Qin Siyuan. He came to Xiaocanghe to worship Qin Siyuan, and his emotions after he took over Qin Siyuan's writings were definitely not fake.But this kind of friendship is the friendship of gentlemen and does not involve the overall situation.Qin Shaoqian also understood this, so he asked Ning Yi to accompany Zuo Duanyou, because Ning Yi was the decider in this regard.

With an identity like Zuo Duanyou, being able to take the initiative to speak out on the food issue has already given Qin Siyuan a face, but he never expected that the other party would give a refusal answer.This refusal is just a sentence, and it turns into a real problem, which is the imminent life and death of tens of thousands of people.

Ning Yi looked at him and said calmly: "I understand Zuo Gong's good intentions, but Xiao Canghe does not accept the restriction of people who are not of the same way. Therefore, Zuo Gong is kind and willing, and we don't want the food. The food sent is still sealed in the warehouse, and Zuo Gong can take it with him when he returns."

After he finished speaking, Zuo Duanyou's eyes narrowed, and he was really angry. He was about to speak when someone suddenly ran in from the door: "Something happened!"

The person who came in was Chen Fan. He glanced at Zuo Duanyou: "Something happened to Ning Xi..."

A small accident interrupted the confrontation between the two.

For a period of time, picking up wild vegetables, fishing for fish, and looking for food has become the normal life of the children in Xiaocanghe.

It is already dog ​​days at this time. For the food shortage in the valley, no solution has been found so far. Under the management of Ning Yi, the people in the valley have not behaved in chaos, but the pressure can sometimes be in the heart, sometimes It will also be reflected in all aspects that people see.The actions of the children are a direct manifestation of this pressure.

You can eat things in the mountains, things in the water, wild vegetables, and tree bark. According to Min Chuyi, there is a kind of soil that you can eat.This made the little Ning Xi feel very optimistic, but optimism turned into optimism. When the children and some women were picking wild vegetables, there were not many wild vegetables and plant roots that could be eaten near the Xiaocang River. You can also organize hunting and digging in a little farther place, and children are strictly prohibited from going out of the valley.That's why, staying in this valley every day, Ning Xi's small basket on her back has not gained much.

He just thinks that he is too bad, and he can't bear hardships better than the children like Min Chuyi. Many times, after looking for a day and looking at his little basket, he is quite depressed.In fact, Min Chu didn't gain much in a small basket, but from time to time, he could still share some of it.Out of vanity to claim credit in front of his parents, he finally accepted it.

So every morning, he would give Min Chu a small half of a wild vegetable cake—he couldn't finish it anyway.

He never thought that he would find a rabbit in the valley one day.Ning Xi was a little frightened when the fluffy little animal with two ears pricked up out of the grass, she stood there pointing her finger at the rabbit, and stammered out to Min Chuyi, "This, this..."

The seven-year-old girl was already rushing towards here, and the rabbit turned around and ran.

"Catch it! Catch it! Ning Xi catch it—"

"Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah--"

The screams of the two children sounded in confusion on the hillside. The two of them and the rabbit ran desperately. Ning Xi bravely rushed across the hill and jumped off the high soil, blocking the escape route of the rabbit. Min Chuyi Running from below to outflank it, jumping up and grabbing the rabbit's ear.Ning Xi rolled on the ground a few times, got up from there, blinked, and then pointed at Min Chuyi: "Hahaha, hahaha...uh..." He saw the rabbit being caught by the little girl, Then, it fell again.

"Uh, grab it, grab it, it ran away, it ran away..." Ning Xi said and wanted to chase again, ran two steps and stopped because Min Chuyi was staring strangely. Looking at him, there was some panic in his eyes, and then tears fell.

Ning Xi wiped the forehead that the other party was looking at, and found that there was blood on his hand. He hadn't figured out what it was, but unfortunately the rabbit in the corner of his field of vision ran farther and farther.The little girl cried out, not far away, the female soldier in charge of taking care of it also ran quickly...

(End of this chapter)