The coolest and most comfortable time of midsummer is in the early morning. The moon on duty at night couldn't bear the sleepiness and went back to sleep, the sun on duty during the day had not yet gotten up, and it was turning from black to white in the gray sky, only a few scattered stars twinkled on the dewdrops that had just condensed in the flowers and plants on the ground, making those crystal dewdrops as dazzling as scattered diamonds.

On the official road of 100 miles outside Beijing, a team of knights in strong suits rode horses, breaking this quiet picture of early morning beauty. The person at the head is none other than Shen Ze. He was wearing a dark riding uniform, with a milky white Hetian jade crown on his head, his thick black sword eyebrows were slightly raised, and a pair of narrow phoenix eyes had a faint bloodshot, showing that the master had not slept all night. An agate-like red mole between the left eyebrows and eyes made his complexion whiter and fairer, and his handsome face had a hint of imperceptible fatigue because of the overnight journey.

After seeing the road monument marking a hundred miles away from Beijing, Shen Ze raised his right hand and signaled the team to pause and rest. The people who rushed with him this time were all elites in the army, and the order was forbidden. After everyone dismounted, a few well-trained people were assigned to be in charge of guarding, and the rest of the people sat on the ground and closed their eyes to recuperate.

Looking in the direction of the capital, Shen Ze was a little distracted. He remembered the last time he saw his father.

"Ah Qi," the scrawny father called his milk name lightly, tremblingly opened the mechanism from the porcelain pillow under him, took out a piece of dark iron token, and handed it to him: "This is only passed on to the next Weiguo Gong's family head token, there are different patterns on the front and back, the front is our Shen family's family emblem, and the reverse side is the symbol of the secret forces of the Weiguo Mansion, no matter which party is mobilized, you must rely on this token." Now I'll give it to you. Although the forces on the face of the Shen family no longer recognize this card, you can use it to mobilize the shadows. Back then, your grandfather had a favor for the father of the current Mingwei general Jiang Wu, and you took this token to the northwest border to find Jiang Wu, and the most elite secret guard of our Shen family was named under his command. Without this token, no one can mobilize these people. This short sentence, my father said it very hard, and after saying it, he had a heart-rending cough.

Shen Ze hurriedly stepped forward to put his father on his chest, but he waved his hand to stop him: "Don't delay time, when you have the strength to protect yourself, come back to save me." Don't worry, if that woman can't find this token for a day, she won't touch me for a day. By now, no one has found out that you are here, hurry up, hurry! After his father finished speaking, he pushed him away with all his might.

With tears in his eyes, Shen Ze knelt down and kowtowed to his father three times, and then left with the token.

The sun that jumped up in the distant sky dispelled all the darkness, and the sudden sunlight shone on his body, interrupting Shen Ze's memories. He got up and got on his horse and said to the guards, "Let's go, let's go and pick up one of them first." ”

In the past few days, Cui'er took her little sister Pan'er to play all over the Zhuangzi where she grew up, and the two nominal maids played more crazy than the master, and the master wanted to do but didn't dare to do, and the two tried one after another. What goes up to the tree to dig out the bird's nest, goes down to the field to catch loaches, and the naughty index is close to the native country boy.

On this day, the two were catching sparrows in a corner of the farmyard. Scattering a handful of grain, and using a small wooden stick with a rope to prop up the bamboo basket that was buckled upside down on the grain, the sisters lay in wait for the sparrow to take the bait. "Why haven't you come yet?" The youngest Pan'er was the most impatient, and after waiting for a long time to see no birds flying, she couldn't stay still. "It should be coming soon." I hadn't played this in two years, and Cui'er wasn't sure if the birds were getting smarter now. "Two silly girls!" Suddenly, a gray head emerged from the grass beside them. "Ahh The two girls jumped, almost screaming, but remembering the big thing they were doing, they consciously covered their mouths and suffocated the screams back into their stomachs.

The old man who spoke out did not feel guilty in the slightest, but continued to laugh with a grin: "What two little fools! Cui'er looked at the old man who had suddenly appeared, and saw that his eyes were dark, and his skin was ruddy and smooth, and although his hair was white, he did not look old at all, and he was now teasing the two sisters with a mischievous smile that she had only seen from the mischievous little boy in the farmer's house. After confirming that she had never seen this person, Cui'er ignored his teasing and asked very vigilantly, "Who are you?" Why is it here? Why haven't I seen you? Because of her childhood experience, Pan'er was most afraid of meeting strangers, so she hid behind her sister at the moment, only revealing a pair of fawn-like eyes and looking curiously at the old grandfather in front of her.

"Who are you? Why is it here? I've lived here for over a year, and I've never seen you two little girls. The old man didn't answer.

Cui'er looked behind her and saw that her sister was only curious and not afraid, so she was a little relieved. Pan'er is young, but she sees people the most accurately, if the person in front of her has malicious intentions towards them, Pan'er will already be afraid and tremble.

Since she is not a bad person, Cui'er, who has been taught to respect the old and love the young since she was a child, replied obediently: "My name is Cui'er, and this is my sister Pan'er." My father is the steward of this Zhuangzi. Grandpa, you've been here for so long, does my eldest lady know? This is the eldest lady's Zhuangzi, you have lived for so long, you can't do it without her consent. "I've never heard the eldest lady mention that there are guests living in the village, and Cui'er thinks that the old man came to live nearby secretly. Out of her loyal servant nature, she gently reminded her.

The old man was not happy when he heard this: "What do you little girl know!" How many people want to invite me, I am not willing to go, how can I steal to live on your broken Zhuangzi! It must be that you are too young to know that your young lady asked me to stay here. ”

When Cui'er heard this, she was about to argue with the old man unconvinced, but behind her, Pan'er pulled her sleeve and exclaimed in a low voice, "Sister, look, a bird is flying!" ”

When the old and the young heard this, they forgot about the dispute, and together they pushed aside the branches and looked at the simple bird trap.

I saw that outside the trap, there were a few small sparrows around, looking around vigilantly, and they were not in a hurry to run to the delicacy in front of them. The three of them held their breath, and a voice in their hearts shouted: "Go eat!" Go, go, go! Perhaps sensing the murderous aura lurking around him, a clever sparrow chirped a few times and led the remaining few stupid little brothers to flutter their wings and fly away.

The two little girls fell together and were angry at the shrewd leading bird. The old man laughed, and his voice changed to the mocking tone when he first came out: "I'll just say that you two are a pair of fools!" Do you want me to teach you how to do it? An old face was full of pride, and he almost wrote the words "beg me".

Pan'er pulled the sleeves of the old man's shirt, and a pair of big wet eyes showed a begging look very cooperatively: "Grandpa, you can teach us." ”

Cui'er was angered by the old man's repeated ridicule: "Sister, don't beg him." Catching birds is what we children like to play, he is a bad old man who knows what, we wait a little longer, there will definitely be stupid birds fooled. ”

When the old man heard this, he blushed, stiffened his neck, and widened his eyes: "You little girl is so rude!" How dare you not believe my words! You two have shown me a good look! With that, he puffed out his cheeks and whistled. Suddenly, a crisp birdsong came from the old man's mouth, chirping, as if a flock of sparrows were singing in front of him.

The two sisters saw this stunt for the first time, and their eyes were full of shock.

The old man shocked the two little girls when he opened his mouth, and he got carried away even more, shaking his head and playing hard. He did not listen to the birdsong in his mouth, sometimes cheerful, sometimes hurried, and his voice was mixed with the sounds of swallows, pigeons, cuckoos, and other birds in addition to the usual sparrow calls. At this time, if you just close your eyes and listen, anyone will think that you are in the deep mountains and old forests, and you will encounter the wonder of a hundred birds singing.

In a moment the cry attracted a great flock of birds, which were crushed and swirled in the sky, as if looking for their companion who had made such a joyous cry. When the old man saw this, his tone changed in vain, and he did not know how he did it, and the birdsong he made became intermittent and indistinct, like a bird hiding in a bamboo basket on the ground, pecking at the delicious grains, and calling friends to share the food.

When many birds heard this, they could not help but swoop down and go straight to the grain under the bamboo basket. The rest of the alert ones are still hovering in the sky.

More and more birds are stepping into the trap, and there are fewer and fewer grains. The two little sisters looked at the old man with their mouths wide open, still immersed in shock, not noticing what was going on on the other side of the trap. The old man could not make a sound now, so he danced and motioned for them to pull the rope. Unexpectedly, these two little fools didn't understand what he meant at all, and thought that he was not only showing off ventriloquism, but also had to dance. The old man jumped to his feet in anger, snatched the rope in Pan'er's hand, and pulled it hard with his own hands, the birds in the bamboo basket were dark in front of their eyes, and the ones outside the bamboo basket were scattered.

Only then did Cui'er Pan'er react, they were still hunting birds. But now, although the harvest is huge, the sisters' minds are not here. The two rushed over in unison, one pulled the old man's sleeve and swayed from side to side, and the other looked at the old man with wet adoring eyes, and said in unison: "Old man, you are so amazing!" Teach us! ”

This admiration was evident to the old man, who smiled and stroked his gray beard as if he were a man of the world, but did not open his mouth to accede to their requests.

Cui'er, the little clever ghost, was the first to come back to her senses, remembering the old man's previous appearance, her little eyes rolled and she counted in her heart.

"Sister, forget it, I see, this old man can only blow it himself, and he doesn't know how to teach others at all."

It's a pity that this old man is no longer fooled by the same trick. He glanced at Cui'er: "The little girl is cautious but not small, and she is agitating me again?" Hey, I'm not fooled by you! After that, he deliberately shook his head again and again, with a hateful expression of "I'm going to be angry with you".

Cui'er gritted her teeth and had nothing to say. Pan'er made a move.

"Grandpa, you teach us to whistle, and we roast birds for you to eat, okay? The seasoning grilled meat made by the eldest lady is the most delicious, haven't you tasted it yet? I promise you'll never forget it! Later, when we learn it, we can often catch birds and roast them for you to eat. ”

The old man couldn't help but swallow his saliva, and looked at Pan'er with some suspicion: "It's really so delicious?" "These **** happened to go out and were not in Zhuangzi, so I asked.

Cui'er couldn't stand other people's doubts about the eldest lady, and replied: "Of course! My eldest lady makes any dishes delicious, just a barbecue condiment, which is the easiest for her! Pan'er nodded vigorously on the side, trying her best to prove that what Cui'er said was true.

The old man's eyes rolled: "Okay, you first roast the ones you caught this time and give me a taste, if it is really as delicious as you say, I will teach you to whistle." ”

The two sisters quickly went their separate ways, and Cui'er and her brothers had done this bird hunting and barbecue before, she found the kitchen knife cutting board by heart, fetched a bucket of water, and began to handle the birds. Pan'er is the best at selling well when she is young, and she is responsible for coming forward and going to the eldest lady to ask for condiments. The old man found a chaise longue out of nowhere, lay comfortably in the shade of the tree, and waited for the food to be served.