"Dead, Cao Laogou is dead?!" Tie Yun and the others muttered in disbelief when they saw Cao Zhong, who was killed by an arrow, and the rest of the people were stunned.

"Yes, he's dead!" The sergeant standing next to him swallowed and said, "However, it doesn't seem like our people killed it." ”

"Whatever! As long as you die, it's done. Let's go, let's retreat! Tie Yun came back to his senses and whistled. The people brought with him receded like a tide in an instant, and when he left, he didn't forget the brother who died on his back, and he didn't forget to cut off Cao Zhong's head and take it away.

The guards brought by Cao Zhong didn't have the heart to pursue anymore, but they were panicked, not knowing what to do.

After much hesitation, they still collected Cao Zhong's headless corpse, buried the corpses of their dead colleagues on the spot, and returned to Beijing in despair.

The matter of choosing a concubine for the emperor naturally has to be put aside.

This place is not a place to stay for a long time, since Cao Zhong is dead, Qin Shu has no reason to stay here, and left quietly.

Tie Yun led the people to settle in a hidden mountain forest more than 30 miles away from here, and because it was getting late, he ordered people to make a pot for cooking.

It was getting dark, and the bonfire was rising.

Tie Yun placed the tablet of the old and young of the Song family on a flat big stone, and Cao Zhong's head was placed in front of the tablet, and then he led everyone to kneel, with tears in his eyes, and said in a choked voice: "The old general, the eldest son, the second son, the third son, the old dog Cao who harmed you is finally dead, if you know everything under the spring, please bless us to kill the mediocre dog emperor and the lascivious and shameless queen mother next, especially the turtle grandson surnamed Sun, we will definitely cut him with a thousand knives, use their heads as snacks, and so on, Tie Yun immediately went down to find you and continued to be the general of the Song family. General, you must wait for your subordinates ......"

After speaking, he "banged" his head to the ground and kowtowed a few times.

When the others heard this, they couldn't help but roll down two lines of tears, and their expressions were extremely sad.

They basically don't have any family anymore, and they have always regarded the Song family as their home, and revenge is the only purpose of their lives. The Song family is finished, and they are all like ashes.

Just when everyone was in grief, suddenly, a shout interrupted their mourning.

"Who? Sneaky, come out! ”

When they heard this, they all got up from the ground, put their hands on their weapons in a wary manner, and stared in the direction of the person who came without blinking.

I saw a figure, gradually coming out of the darkness, from far and near, the bonfire illuminated his figure, and from a distance, it was a very tall man, but because he had a hat on his head and a cloak, he could not see his face clearly.

"Stop, don't go any further." Seeing that he kept moving forward regardless of it, everyone couldn't help but draw their weapons and scolded loudly.

But the man did not stop, ignoring the threat of the men, until he had reached a distance of about ten paces before the campfire, and by this time he was already surrounded by the crowd.

As the man approached, Tie Yun's hand on the hilt of the knife suddenly loosened, and a pair of eyes only stared at him in a daze, as if he was stunned.

At this time, the man finally raised his head, the corners of his lips hooked slightly, and showed a smile to him-

"Tieyun, don't come unharmed."

"You...... ...... are you" Tie Yun saw him, and the terrifying scar on his face suddenly shook violently, as if he was so shocked that he couldn't even speak.

Smack-

The knife in his hand fell to the ground, and the whole person crawled to the ground, knelt in front of the man, hugged his thigh, and lay on the ground without any image and cried, like a child who had just returned to his parents.

The others were all surprised and speechless.

……

Qin Shu rode directly away from the scene of the assassination.

In order to facilitate the journey, as early as a few days ago, she spent fifty taels of silver to buy an ordinary horse to travel.

At this time, Cao Zhong was dead, and her revenge was avenged, but she didn't know where to go.

Go home?

Qin Shu shook her head, she didn't want to go back now.

Forget it, let's continue to walk outside, and it's good to see the scenery.

However, what Qin Shu never expected was that she was matched by Lalang.

This happened the day after she assassinated Cao Zhong.

At this time, the news of Cao Zhong's killing had not yet come out, and everyone only knew that the imperial court was going to pick up beauty pageants among the people, and they all hurriedly found someone for their daughter.

Those who have already made a marriage will not pick a good day, and let them marry on the same day, even the poor ghosts and widowers who usually can't marry their daughters-in-law are all targeted, and they become people's sons-in-law unknowingly.

Some people even specialize in arresting people on the street, especially the kind of young men who are well-dressed and good-looking, which has caused everyone to rob, regardless of whether they have a family or not, they will marry first, and then talk about the size later.

If it's just the emperor marrying a concubine, it's just that, but now there are rumors, not just for the little emperor to take a concubine, but for the old man to find a furnace, then it's okay, if the girl is chosen, wouldn't she fall into the fire pit, even if she doesn't marry well, she has to marry out.

Therefore, when Qin Shu arrived in Yue County, he saw "the sedan chair is full of streets, advocating deafness", and his eyes were full of red, and almost every household was doing happy events.

No way, who let the nine thousand years old get here soon!

If they don't marry their daughter, it's too late.

As soon as Qin Shu entered the county, he was instantly targeted, like a sheep falling into a wolf's den.

Who made Qin Shu look good, dress decently, and ride a high-headed horse, exuding a "rich" and "good" atmosphere all over her body, who doesn't stare at her?

The only drawback is that it's a little shorter.

In fact, Qin Shu's height is already the best among women.

When she first came through,

When she first came through, Qin Sulian was probably malnourished, only about 1.6 meters, but because the height of the ancients was generally short, her height was already on the high side, and later, I don't know if it was because of good nutrition, or because she exercised regularly, in short, she developed a second time, grew a few centimeters, and now she is standing out from the crowd, which is not worse than the height of ordinary men. Because of this, she has no pressure to pretend to be a man.

said that she was short, but also compared to those big men. It's much better than those poor jingle people who look crooked melons and cracked dates. You know, some families even snatched those beggars who were a little younger and good-looking to be sons-in-law!

What's more, Qin Shu looks like a "golden beetle son-in-law" no matter how she looks, and it would be a fool not to snatch her back as a son-in-law.

Therefore, as soon as Qin Shu entered the county seat, she saw a group of people frantically rushing towards her, she originally wanted to do it, but these people were unarmed, they were ordinary people, how could she draw her sword at them, she couldn't fight, so she could only run.

As a result, there were too many people for the horses to run out, and those people did everything to prevent her from leaving, hugging the horse's neck and pulling at her clothes, so that she could not display her abilities without any ability, and her face was so anxious that her face turned red, and a little anger rose in her heart, and she was about to tell them that she was a woman, when she heard a man suddenly shout—

"There's money falling from the sky, come and pick up the money."

Then, sure enough, a lot of copper coins fell from the sky.

Everyone was stunned at first, and when they saw that they really had to drop the copper coins, most of the people couldn't take care of Qin Shu, and they went to grab the money.

"Why don't you run?" I just listened to the man just now.

Qin Shu reacted, immediately broke free from everyone's entanglement, galloped away, and ran out of the county seat in one go.

It wasn't until she heard that no one was catching up behind her that she slowed down and rode slowly.

These people are really terrible, they are simply robbers, how can they forcibly pull people to get married? It's nonsense!

As soon as Qin Shu breathed a sigh of relief, he heard the sound of horses' hooves coming from behind, his heart tightened, and he reflexively wanted to run away again, who knew that someone behind him shouted: "Brother Tai in front, wait a minute!" ”

Qin Shu heard this person's voice, it was the person who reminded him before and saved himself from fire and water, so he stopped, grabbed the reins, and turned around to wait for him.

At this time, the other party also rode up to her.

There were only three people on the other side, the leader was a young man in his early twenties, and the two behind him had a fierce aura and seemed to be guards.

The young man was very heroic, wearing a navy blue power suit, however, compared to a pure martial artist, he was a little more elegant, but his eyebrows were clear, his demeanor was generous, and combined with the previous actions of rescuing Qin Shu, he looked like a generous and upright man.

As soon as the young man stepped forward, he hugged his fists and said to Qin Shu: "Brother Tai is polite, junior brother Cheng Zhicai, I have seen Brother Tai." ”

Qin Shu also followed his example and hugged his fists, and saluted him: "Don't dare to be, the little brother's surname is Qin, and the single name is the word 'Shu', and I want to thank Brother Tai for saving him just now." ”

"It turned out to be Brother Qin, but it's the 'book' of qinqi, calligraphy and painting?" Cheng Zhicai asked.

Qin Shu smiled and didn't speak, Cheng Zhicai only acquiesced to her.

Taking advantage of the time he spoke, he looked at Qin Shu carefully. I saw that she was wearing a black cloth dress, wearing a long sword at her waist, fair skin, handsome appearance, but she looked a little thin, no matter how she looked at it, she looked like a weak scholar, but between her eyebrows, there was a little more heroism, coupled with a tall sitting posture and a hearty style, quite a bit of martial arts style, these are enough to offset the shortcomings of her thin and thin figure.

Thinking like this, Cheng Zhicai's expression became closer and closer, and he asked again: "I don't know where Brother Qin is going?" Now that it's very chaotic outside, Brother Qin is bold, he actually came out and ran around at this time, aren't you afraid that your family will worry? ”

Hearing Cheng Zhicai mention his family, Qin Shu's face was a little gloomy, and she sighed: "I'm afraid no one is worried about me now." ”

When Cheng Zhicai saw her show this demeanor, he knew that his problem had poked her sore spot, and hurriedly apologized: "I'm sorry, I don't know ...... Brother Qin" He thought that Qin Shu had no home anymore.

"Those who don't know are not guilty, and Brother Cheng doesn't have to apologize." Qin Shu said, "The little brother has nowhere to go, just walk around." ”

The two of them rode forward slowly, and the two guards followed behind them.

"Oh?" Cheng Zhicai's face seemed to flash with a hint of surprise, and he hurriedly said, "In that case, why don't Brother Qin go to the cold house for a few days?" ”

After speaking, he felt that he was too anxious, and hurriedly explained: "My request may be too abrupt, but I hit it off with Brother Qin at first sight, and I really want to make friends with Brother Qin, I wonder if Brother Qin is willing to appreciate his face?" ”

Although Qin Shu didn't dare to say that he was very accurate in looking at people, he rarely made a mistake, at least Cheng Zhicai did not look like some sinister and cunning person, he did himself another favor, and he had nowhere to go, so it was okay to go to his house for a few days?

Therefore, he said: "Where is Brother Cheng?" I'm just afraid I'm too much of a disturbance. ”

"Haha, what's not bothering about this? Our Cheng family likes to make friends the most, Qin Shu is willing to come, it's too late for us to be happy! Cheng Zhicai heard that Qin Shu was willing to go to his house to live, and his heart was even happier.

Hearing that Cheng Zhicai invited him to live because he liked to make friends, Qin Shu was even more relieved.

"The Cheng family is in front, let's hurry up! lest it be dark. Cheng Zhicai said.

Qin Shu looked at the sunset, nodded and said, "Okay!" ”

Only then did a few people speed up and rush forward.

Half an hour later, Qin Shu and his party came to the mouth of a village, the front door was made of a wooden archway, and there were guards guarding the door, holding spears in their hands, and there were dense cottages inside, outside

The cottage is surrounded by a fence and a second-story lookout.

Cheng Zhicai explained to Qin Shu: "Now that the world is not peaceful, my brother and I united the villagers and tenants to build this fortress to defend ourselves. ”

Qin Shu nodded and said, "Brother Cheng is right to do this. ”

She secretly looked at the scale of the fortress, I was afraid that it was bigger than the Qin family.

After Cheng Zhicai came back, someone immediately greeted them and led their horses away.

"Let's go, let's go in!" Cheng Zhicai took Qin Shu into the stockade.

Inside the stockade, the guards were tighter.

In order to avoid suspicion, Qin Shu didn't look around, let alone ask more, and only followed Cheng Zhicai quietly, which made Cheng Zhicai, who was secretly observing her, even more satisfied.

After walking for a while, I crossed a bridge, and the Cheng family, which was built against the mountain, was in front of me.

The Cheng family is a big house with several entrances, blue bricks and blue tiles, it looks very majestic, and he was at least a big rich man or a big landlord before he came to the Cheng family.

Cheng Zhicai took Qin Shu directly to the guest room, and also called two maids to wait, so he left in a hurry, let Qin Shu wash up first, and would pick up the wind and wash the dust for Qin Shu at night, and asked Qin Shu to enjoy the light.

Qin Shu's guest room is in the outer courtyard, and she lives in the same courtyard as another guest.

The guest had a beard, was tall, like a wagyu bear, and had two big axes stuck in his waist, looking very powerful, and seemed to be a guest recruited by the Cheng family.

He seemed to look down on Qin Shu for a "white chicken", his contempt was overflowing, his nose was facing the sky, he didn't even say hello, he snorted coldly, and went into the house. If he hadn't seen that the other party had been sent by the second prince personally, I'm afraid he would have to go up and teach Qin Shu a lesson.

Qin Shu didn't care about him, and asked the maids for hot water, took a bath, and changed into new clothes. This dress is still the royal blue yarn provided by the Cheng family, although it is a little fatter, but it fits well, the waist is silky, hung with jade pendants, and the hair is also tied up with the hairstyle of the reader, the long royal blue hairband hangs behind him, looking more and more like a personable reader, and the lips are more and more red and white, and the jade tree is in the wind, moving closer to the little white face.

In other words, after Qin Shu crossed, it was the first time to wear such good clothes, and the first time she was dressed like this, it was like a peacock opening the screen. This made her feel a little more suspicious.

But after thinking about it, she felt that she might be thinking too much, because she didn't feel the other party's malice.

While Qin Shu was washing, Cheng Zhicai hurriedly went to see his eldest brother.

His eldest brother Cheng Yingcai is the real head of the family, the talker, and the head of the family.

After he went to the main courtyard, only his sister-in-law was there, and he knew that his eldest brother had gone to practice martial arts across the courtyard again.

hurriedly said goodbye to my sister-in-law and went to the hospital again.

Sure enough, I saw my eldest brother boxing.

There was no way, he had to stand on the side and wait for the eldest brother to finish.

Cheng Yingcai is twenty-six or seven years old, with a neat demeanor and a magnanimous demeanor, and he is a little more generous and stable than Cheng Zhicai.

When the eldest brother finally finished the work, Cheng Zhicai hurriedly shouted as if inviting credit: "Big brother, I have found a candidate for my little sister's son-in-law." ”

Cheng Yingcai was stunned when he heard this, took the towel handed over by the servant, wiped his sweat, and walked over and said, "What kind of person makes you so excited?" Our little sister has a very high vision, she not only thinks that the martial arts are vulgar, but also dislikes the literati who are too weak, both civil and military, and the parents of the suspects are not good, and she can't look down on ordinary people. ”

"I know, otherwise, how could it be so difficult for us to choose a husband?" Cheng Zhicai said, "However, she will definitely not find fault with the person I chose this time." ”

"Oh?" Cheng Yingcai threw the towel to the servant and asked, "Tell me what's going on?" ”

Cheng Zhicai told me about meeting Qin Shu today.

After hearing this, Cheng Yingcai immediately frowned and said: "According to what you say, he is just a little better, you don't know his skills or his talent, how can you think that Xiaomei will be satisfied with him?" ”

"Just because Brother Qin dares to go out alone, and he can still live well, it is enough to prove his skills, as for talent, I don't think Brother Qin looks like a person who can't read big words, anyway, you seem to know, maybe my little sister likes him!"

Cheng Yingcai was still frowning.

"Oh, we don't have time, that bullshit nine thousand years old doesn't know when it will come, although we are not afraid of him, but we don't want to make trouble, do we? What's more, the younger sister is already sixteen, and it's time to choose a husband. Anyway, I have to catch Brother Qin at night, and when the time comes, it will be enough to let the little sister meet him. If you don't like him, brother, let's just give him some entanglement and let him leave. Cheng Zhicai said anxiously.

Cheng Yingcai thought about it, but nodded and said, "Okay!" ”

When it gets dark, a maid will come to pick up Qin Shu and go to the living room.

The two maids walked in front with two bowls of yarn lanterns, Qin Shu followed quietly behind, and there were patrols walking by in the yard from time to time, the discipline was very regular, and it didn't look worse than Qinjiazhuang's. Qin Shu looked up to the Cheng family a few points higher in her heart.

Soon, Qin Shu arrived at the waiting room.

When the living room was brightly lit, by the time Qin Shu arrived, there were already many people there, almost all of them were five big and three rough martial artists, and Qin Shu was almost the latest to arrive, so as soon as she came, she was greeted with attention.

At the first glance of her, Cheng Yingcai frowned slightly, probably thinking that Qin Shu was not very manly, and the fat powder was too heavy.

Cheng Zhicai hurriedly got up to greet him, and said enthusiastically: "Brother Qin is here, big brother, this is Brother Qin Shu Qin." ”

After speaking, he introduced to Qin Shu: "Brother Qin, this is my eldest brother, and I am also the head of the Cheng family, Cheng Yingcai. ”

Qin Shu bowed to Cheng Yingcai and said, "See the master of the Cheng family!" ”

Cheng Yingcai saw that Qin Shu was not afraid to see so many martial artists, his expression was calm, his impression of her was better, and he also showed a smile and said, "Young Master Qin,

"Qin Gongzi, please take a seat!"

After Qin Shu thanked him, he sat down in the first place in the lower left, and Cheng Zhicai sat in the first place in the lower right.

Cheng Yingcai didn't talk nonsense, he just welcomed everyone, let everyone eat happily in the fortress, live happily, and do his part for the fortress, he will not treat everyone badly.

Then, Cheng Yingcai ordered someone to serve the food.

At the reception banquet, Qin Shu was much quieter than others, most of the time she just watched and listened quietly, at most she smiled and bowed, and she didn't rush to be in the limelight, but if someone provoked her, she wouldn't bear it, but Cheng Yingcai looked up to her by two points.

However, Qin Shu ate a little unpleasantly, she always felt that someone was spying on her, but she didn't find anything wrong, so she paid more and more attention to what she did, and even drank only a few small glasses of wine, and always kept her sober.

Soon, the reception banquet was over, and Qin Shu also said goodbye and left to return to the guest house.

After everyone left, only the Cheng brothers were left, Cheng Yingcai said: "Okay, no one, come out!" ”

As soon as the words fell, two women came out of a room opposite Qin Shu's seat.

One was a woman in her twenties, and the other was a beautiful girl of fifteen or sixteen, but the girl's face was a little blushing and a little annoyed.

She took Mrs. by the arm and said, "Sister-in-law, I'm a little tired and want to go back to rest." ”

The woman was Cheng Yingcai's wife, Feng, and she smiled and hugged her shoulders and said, "Why are you in such a hurry, it's not too late to go to rest later, this is related to your life events, and it is much more important than going to sleep." ”

Feng Shi pulled her over and said to Cheng Yingcai: "I think that Qin Gongzi is not bad, and he can be regarded as worthy of our Qiuyu in appearance, but I don't know what his character is?" ”

Cheng Zhicai hurriedly said: "Sister-in-law, I can guarantee that there is absolutely no problem with Brother Qin's character." I asked him, he also practiced martial arts, and he was literate, so there was no one more suitable for our little sister than him. I think that's it! ”

"Second brother, if you say it again, I'll ignore you." Cheng Qiuyu said angrily, "It's a big deal that I don't marry, who said that a woman must marry." ”

"How's that going to work?" Cheng Zhicai said, "If you don't get married, do you want to be the little wife of the little emperor?" ”

"You ......" Cheng Qiuyu was angry and gritted her teeth: "They dare?" When the old dog came, this girl stabbed him to death with a sword. ”

"Nonsense!" Cheng Yingcai said to her in a deep voice and said, "How can a girl not marry?" I think that Qin Shu is also good. If you are all satisfied, I will mention this to him tomorrow, after all, Cao Zhong is almost here, and he can't delay it any longer. ”

When Cheng Qiuyu heard this, her face turned red and white, and she lowered her head angrily, but she didn't object.

In all fairness, the man was really good-looking, and she was somewhat satisfied. However, these are not enough, she doesn't know what the man's martial arts are, what his character is, what if he is a pervert, she will marry him too?

She doesn't want it! She didn't want her future husband to marry a room full of concubines, then she would definitely be tempted to kill him.

She felt like she had to test him.

Thinking like this, she rolled her eyes, and a sly smile appeared on her lips, as if she had a good idea.

Cheng Qiuyu didn't speak, and everyone took her as a default.

This matter is tentatively decided.

And Qin Shu didn't know anything about it.

Back in the guest room, Qin Shu was about to go to bed.

After washing, just lying on the bed, and about to fall asleep, she suddenly heard a knock outside the door, Qin Shu sat up from the bed and asked, "Who is it?" ”

I only heard a woman outside say: "Gongzi Qin, we are sent by the second prince to serve you, you quickly open the door and let us in." ”

Qin Shu frowned when she heard this, but she didn't think about anything else, she just felt that there was something wrong with this Cheng Zhi, and she still sent someone to serve so late?

Therefore, he said: "No need, I have already fallen asleep, I don't need your service, you have thanked the second son for my kindness." ”

"However, the second prince has made us extremely eager to serve the prince of Qin." One of the maids said with some pity, "Otherwise, we will be kicked out." ”

When Qin Shu heard this, she suddenly knew why they came back, and she was angry and funny in her heart, this Cheng Zhicai couldn't help but hurt too much, right? was afraid that he would be lonely alone, so he brought her a warm bed. Fortunately, she is not a man, and if she is an ordinary man, I am afraid that she will really accept it.

"I don't need anyone to serve, you go back, don't worry, I will intercede with the second son for you tomorrow, and I will definitely not drive you out." Qin Shu said.

"But......" The maid seemed unwilling.

"That's it, go down, I'm going to sleep!" After speaking, Qin Shu even blew out the lights in the room.