Walking through the narrow and cramped mountain road, Zhao Weisong couldn't help but sigh: "Compared with the Shu Road, this place is even more dangerous! This mountain road is sandwiched by stone walls on both sides, and there is only such a narrow passage in the middle.

Everyone knew the meaning of his words, but they fled all the way, were chased and killed, the people were sparse, and everyone had a gloomy look on their faces, how could they talk about dominating the world?

Only Ding Zizhen heard Zhao Weisong's words, and praised it greatly, and said: "What Master Zhao said is true, when Ming Taizu started his business, he was only a few soldiers and a few pawns, and finally drove the Tartars and restored my crown clothes, what a great cause!"

The two talked speculatively, talked happily with each other, and talked all the way, discussing the past and the present.

Hong Jingxiao didn't listen to a word at all, when he was born as a child, the previous dynasty had fallen, he was born in the mansion of the Marquis, and lived a depressed but rich life, so he never thought of rebelling, let alone recovering the country.

There is only Ziruo in his eyes, although the two of them are a master and a servant, separated by a distance, but as long as there is a chance, they look at each other with affection.

Zhao Weisong saw it in his eyes, and kept sighing in his heart, when the country was ruined and the family was ruined, how could he be so obsessed with the private affairs of his children?

Gradually, the words became more meaningful, and in the second half of the mountain road, the old swordsman with a lot of gray hair suddenly became silent, and his heart was full of a sense of loss.

The crowd walked along the narrow mountain road for three or four miles, and suddenly it became clear that there was an open field in front of them, and several people with quivers and crossbows stood on the platforms, staring vigilantly at the entrance to the mountain pass.

A bald-headed bandit sat under the stage, walked over with a cruel smile, and said to Ding Zizhen: "Uncle Ding, how many sparrows do you bring today?"

Ding Zizhen arched his hand and smiled: "The twelve white ones, the black ones have folded their wings, and they haven't flown down the mountain yet." ”

The bald bandit's face sank, and he said, "Come here with so many sparrows, in case they are bitten by dogs, aren't you afraid that the nest will be served?"

Ding Zizhen smiled: "I know at the top, don't be afraid." There are some bird eggs here. ”

As he spoke, he took out two taels of silver from his arms, threw them over, and said, "A little heart, brothers drink tea!"

The bald bandit grinned and said, "Uncle Ding, be generous!" Whistling, a small bandit behind him led eight ponies with unusually thick legs.

Ding Zizhen said: "Everyone, please get on the horse, there are still four or five miles from here to the top of the mountain, the mountain road is rugged, go forward carefully!"

Except for Hong Jingxiao, who rode alone, the rest were one horse for every two people, and Ziruo followed Mrs. Zhao to share a horse.

The bald bandit also rode a horse and said, "Follow me!"

Immediately, Zhao Weisong asked strangely: "Outside Ding Yuan, are there other ways up the mountain on this mountain?"

Ding Zizhen said: "There is only one way just now, why do you ask like this?"

Zhao Weisong was surprised: "That road is abnormally narrow, how did these ponies get up the mountain?"

Ding Zizhen laughed and said: "These horses were carried to the mountains when they were foals, and now they have been raised." Although the mountain road is narrow, the mountaineers have another way, from a low cliff in the back mountain, less than 100 meters, they can use wrist-thick hemp rope to carry heavy objects up the mountain, and then follow the mountain road to the mountain. ”

Zhao Weisong nodded yes and said, "I see, how high is the highest part of this mountain?"

Ding Zizhen replied: "This mountain has three peaks, namely the Golden Peak, the Silver Peak and the Jade Peak, the highest Golden Peak is more than 1,000 zhang, and the Silver Peak and the Jade Peak are only eight or nine hundred zhang. Now the place where we are is the mountain gate, about 600 zhang high, and the Yufeng is not much different, so we go by horse. ”

The terrain on the mountain is dangerous, the large mountain range is more than ten miles long, the widest point is only a few hundred meters, and many houses are built in the air in half-overhang, which is magnificent.

The mountain is bustling with people, men, women and children, buying and selling all kinds of things, like a bazaar, far from the terrible scene of bandits' den in everyone's mind.

Ding Zizhen rode slowly and said: "There are about 2,000 people gathered here, 1,56 men, some of the women are robbed of good family women, most of them are their family members who went up to the mountain, and they are all ordinary people who can't eat, and there are only a few hundred hardcore bandits who really go out to rob homes every day." ”

The bald bandit laughed and said, "Uncle Ding, what you say, do you mean that I am not a good person?"

Ding Zizhen smiled: "It's much better than before going up the mountain." "The bald bandit is a Jiangyang thief who has killed countless people, and he was chased and killed by the government in a hurry, and went to Shenlong Village, but he didn't expect that the rules of the village here are extremely strict, and he has not killed anyone for several months on the mountain.

The bald bandit said, "That's!"

After a while, everyone passed through the bustling bazaar, crossed a jungle with whistle handles, and came to Yufeng.

On the top of the jade peak, there is a fortress-like palace made of huge stones, and the gate is also made of two huge stones by skilled craftsmen, in order to avoid the boulder can not be pushed open, people are sealed inside, and a dog hole is also chiseled on the stone wall next to it for people to climb out, which is usually plugged with wood.

The two gilded dragons on the stone gate are fierce and vicious, lifelike.

The people dismounted and stood outside the door waiting.

Zhao Wei said in a relaxed heart: "The tiger fell in Pingyang, the descendants of the dignified Qi, and they actually want to wait for a bandit leader here!"

Hong Jingxiao didn't care, he came to the mountain, only felt novel, he had never seen the rumored bandits' den, it was actually like this, it was no different from ordinary towns and counties, except for many fortresses, checkpoints and whistles.

He didn't know that there was no food in the mountains, and hunting was not enough to make a living, so several large-scale robberies were organized every year, and the bandits were almost out of the nest, and the county market hundreds of miles nearby was extremely harmful.

Ziruo obediently stood beside Hong Jingxiao, listening to him whisper about the difficult experience of a period of time, looking at each other and smiling from time to time, as if she had finally come to a safe place, and she was glad that she could stay together for a long time from now on and never be separated.

Wei Huanlong finally appeared, with unkempt hair, wearing a black robe, and a heart shield on his chest, dazzling gold, if it weren't for the bald bandit saluting respectfully, everyone would have thought that this was the old man who guarded the door.

Wei Huanlong smiled and seemed to be in a good mood, and said loudly: "Lao Ding, you can be regarded as a face-apprehrel, you are willing to come to my shabby place, don't leave tonight, I have ordered the chef to get a table of good wine and food, see that I don't get you drunk!"

When Wei Huanlong once led people down the mountain to rob, he was unfortunately betrayed by spies, ambushed by officers and soldiers, and almost wiped out, but fortunately, Ding Zizhen found him who fled to his backyard and rescued him. Because Ding Zizhen found that although this gang of bandits robbed, they did not hurt anyone's lives, and they were even kinder than the overbearing officers and soldiers, and the two became friends from then on.

It was also after that traitor's betrayal that Wei Huanlong ordered someone to create a pair of defensive armor, and all the key points in his predecessor were blocked by this huge heart guard, and there were a few pieces of iron armor on his back, never leaving his body, for fear of being assassinated by a traitor.

Wei Huanlong greeted Ding Zizhen warmly, completely ignoring the strange visitors on the mountain.

Ding Zizhen took the initiative to recommend: "Master Wei Zhai, this is the second son of the Hong family Jing Xiao I told you, this is Zhao Weisong, the first swordsman in the world, and the others are all masters in the world, I will introduce them to you one by one." Why don't you go to the Gathering Hall and sit and drink tea and talk?"

Wei Huanlong patted his head and said with a smile: "Don't blame you, look at my brain, and let everyone stand outside, please inside!"

Half of the hall was a cavern carved out of the stone walls, half a house made of hewn boulders, and the four walls were windowless, so it was very dim, and there were a dozen or so large candlesticks, barely bright.

Wei Huanlong sat in the main seat, and the upper left position was supposed to be given to Ding Zizhen, but Ding Zizhen hurriedly retreated, turned around and asked Hong Jingxiao to sit in the chief guest seat.

Hong Jingxiao did not shirk, and calmly sat in the upper left position, and the others sat down in turn.

Wei Huanlong rolled his eyes and said, "I don't know how many generations of grandsons of Emperor Qi Shun Gongzi Hong are?"

Hong Jingxiao couldn't answer for a while, and Zhao Weisong blurted out: "My son-in-law is the eldest son and second grandson of Emperor Sizong of Great Qi, and Emperor Shun is a pseudo-dynasty contempt, how can it be taken seriously!"

Wei Huanlong was stunned, and then sneered: "In this case, why is it not a noble prince sitting on the Jinluan Palace in the capital?"

Zhao Weisong was furious, slapped the stone chair with his hand, and a crack suddenly cracked in the back of the white marble chair.

Wei Huanlong thought that his sword had already been unloaded at the mountain pass, unarmed and uncaring.

Hong Jingxiao hurriedly smiled and persuaded: "Village master, Daqi has long since died, and now the dynasty has changed!"

Wei Huanlong laughed and said: "It's still Hong Gongzi who knows the current affairs! Daqi is dead and dead, and if you break this chair, you can't change the facts." ”

Ding Zizhen frowned, he didn't understand why his brother was so rude today when he promised to be good before, and his words were repeatedly deliberately offensive and full of provocations.

Ding Zizhen said: "The owner of the village, you come here!"

The two got up and came to the back hall, Ding Zizhen was quite angry, and said: "Do you know that the son of the Hong family is the only bloodline of the Emperor of Great Qi, if you want to revive Great Qi, you can only rely on him!"

Wei Huanlong smiled: "Why be so angry, I'm just joking with them." He deliberately provoked these people, that is, he wanted them to do it first, and when the time came, he would smash the cup and call his subordinates, and tie up a few people and hand them over to the government, so that the teacher is famous, in case Ding Zizhen blames, it can be shirked that it is these people who do it first, and it will not hurt the friendship between the two.

Ding Zizhen said angrily: "Don't think I don't know what you're thinking! When I went up the mountain, I saw a familiar person, it turned out to be an errand boy from Xianmen Mansion, I had seen it in the mansion before, did you secretly contact the government?"

Wei Huanlong was slightly surprised, and was speechless.

Ding Zizhen sighed and said: "After the death of Daqi, you see this world, the soldiers are endless, and the lives are ruined, the current emperor Dawei Tuoba Lie is the blood of the Xianbei tribe, not my race, his heart will be different, not only forced us and other Han people to change their crowns and clothes, cut their hair and braids, but also slaughtered Han people, more than millions of dead and wounded, taxes and servitude, compared to the Great Qi ten times heavier. Nowadays, the world is changing, and the people's hearts are available, it is holding the banner of the descendants of Daqi to regain the world, how can you fall for the treacherous tricks of the government, after recruiting An, you will definitely get rid of your boss secretly!"

Wei Huanlong scratched his head and said: "I'm just a rough person, if I don't have enough to eat, who will do this bandit!" My precious daughter is now at a good age, and there is no good family, all because I am a bandit, and now you let me be a rebel thief, won't my daughter become an old girl!"

Ding Zizhen laughed and said: "Ling Qianjin, I already have a clever plan, but I don't know if you will listen to my advice?"

Wei Huanlong hurriedly asked: "As long as I can let my daughter marry a good family, I will eat and drink for the rest of my life, and I will listen to you for everything!"

Wei Huanlong didn't know that few of the bandit leaders who had been recruited had a good end, how could the government tolerate a Jiangyang thief to become a local rich gentry and magnate, and he couldn't wait to be sent to the guillotine as soon as he got off the mountain.

In the past few days, he has hesitated, and now he heard the advice of his best friend, and his heart is even more undecided. What he cares about most is the marriage of his baby daughter.

This daughter is his only daughter, born with his wife, when he came back from the army, married a wife, the two were like glue, and gave birth to a daughter, but he didn't expect to get a strange disease a few years later, no money for treatment, and went to the famous Huangshen Medical Center to seek medical treatment on his wife's back, but he opened his mouth to ask for three taels of gold.

That's three hundred taels of silver, where can you get it? Wei Huanlong was desperate.

For the sake of his wife's life, he decided to take a risk, and fell into the grass to become a bandit for Kou, robbing a few hundred taels of silver, Huang Shenyi's medical skills were extraordinary, and his wife was rescued from dying, but since then she has been infertility.

The two have a very deep relationship, and his wife persuaded him to take a concubine and have children, and continue the incense, but he was always unwilling, and he loved his only daughter and regarded it as a pearl in his palm.