The early spring night is still very cold, and the four newly established porridge factories in Juchongguan are full of smoke day and night, and pot after pot of hot porridge is boiling non-stop.

With 200,000 troops stationed and life-saving food, the panicked people in Juchong Pass finally settled down. As long as the snow melts, spring ploughing can begin, and the people can see the hope of life again.

The entire Juchong Pass, whether day or night, is densely guarded and guarded. Everywhere you can see groups of soldiers patrolling the streets with spears and shields. Some of the scoundrels who wanted to rob the shops and rape the women of good families were immediately taken down and punished on the spot as soon as they were bumped into by these patrolling soldiers.

In troubled times, the heavy canonization, suppressed by this heavy punch, coupled with a string of skin-splashed corpses hanging at the entrance of the yamen, made the originally chaotic social order have undergone earth-shaking changes. On the long street, which was originally bleak, people finally began to move. Some of the merchants who had escaped the looting also opened their shops and began to do business tremblingly.

As the night wore on, the long streets were deserted and the shops were closed. Suddenly a few hurried and sneaky figures appeared on the dark and quiet street, and they knocked on the door of one of the salt shops.

A vigilant voice came from the shop: "Who! It's so late, if you want to buy salt, please be early tomorrow. ”

The person who came lowered his voice and said, "The shopkeeper, there is just a pig tied up at home." Just wait until you buy your salt, so you can go back and kill the pigs. ”

"Buy my salt, and go to the blacksmith next door to buy a pig-killing knife!"

"We slaughter pigs as an ancestral craft, and we never use iron knives. Use only wooden knives. ”

The closed door of the shop squeaked open, and a warm orange light came out. A short and fat man in a fur coat and a fur hat on his head. Carrying a lantern, he opened half of the door. He blocked the door and glanced at the people vigilantly, and said arrogantly: "Can your wooden knife kill pigs?" It's the first time I've heard of it. ”

The person who came lowered his voice and said: "Shopkeeper, my family's wooden knife is from Chang'an City, and it is better than your iron knife here." ”

The shopkeeper's eyes lit up, put away his arrogance, opened the door, and said with a smile: "Then I really want to see it." Ladies and gentlemen, please come in. The visitor immediately dodged through the gate.

The shopkeeper's careful probe glanced out a few times, and only saw a long dark street with dead leaves swirling on the street. He smiled. Immediately closed the door tightly.

The shopkeeper led the people straight into the dark room, and after inviting them to sit down, he took the huge gold ring on his finger and asked carefully, "I don't know what your Excellency is called?" ”

The people who came were wearing thick cloaks. The big hood almost covered most of their faces. In addition, the shopkeeper left the lantern outside the dark room. Therefore, the room is full of black rumbling, and no one wants to see the faces of the people around them.

The one who came at the head of the people deliberately lowered his voice and said: "The shopkeeper can call me Mu En, the two of them are my brothers, one is called Mu Kui, and the other is called Mu Zhi." ”

The shopkeeper's heart was shocked, he vaguely knew. Only Mr. Mu's cronies can get the surname Muzi. An almost marginalized minion like him has never seen a man surnamed Mu appear. I didn't expect to come here today to be three. That also means that this giant surge pass, which has just calmed down, is about to have a big event.

Sure enough, Mu En said lightly: "Mr. Mu finally disrupted the situation in Juchong Pass, how can we calm down here again?" ”

The shopkeeper accompanied him and asked, "What do you mean?" ”

"One word, 'chaos'." Mu En said unceremoniously: "And the more chaotic the better."

"This" shopkeeper showed a hint of embarrassment on his face. He is a businessman, and he is only bent on seeking wealth when he gets on the giant ship of Mr. Mu. Now that he has made enough money, he will naturally start to spare his life.

Mu Zhi saw that his face was embarrassed, so he smiled coldly and threatened: "Shopkeeper, in the past three years, you should have earned a lot of money by selling official salt in the open, colluding with the Khitan people to buy and sell illegal salt, and smuggling iron tools. But as long as Mr. Mu says a word, your family wealth will be in vain, including your wife, concubine, a baby son, and three married daughters will be worse than death, do you believe it or not? ”

The fat on the shopkeeper's face trembled, and large beads of sweat immediately rolled down. He knelt down with a "poof", kowtowed again and again, and said: "Everyone, please calm your anger, even if the villain has the courage to make a mistake, Mr. Mu's big thing will not be mistaken." In the future, the small ones must be looked at by the heads of the horses, and whatever you say, the small ones will do. ”

Mu En smiled with satisfaction, and he said slowly: "Don't worry, call other people with the same identity as you first, and let's discuss!" ”

"Yes." The shopkeeper's sad face replied

"What, do you suspect that there are Khitan spies in our army?"

Although the old marquis of Ming is old, he is still wearing clothes and armor, and he has a sword under his side, and he looks as heroic as he was back then. It's just that after listening to the news reported by Guo Chenghe, his gray thick eyebrows were tightly entangled.

With his hands behind his back, he paced back and forth in the dimly lit and rudimentary barracks. After pondering for a moment, he suddenly asked, "Heir, do you have any suspicions?" ”

Guo Chengsi said calmly: "Originally, there was one, and he was an accompanying military doctor in the army of grain guards. It was only the lower officials who became suspicious of him, and he died because he went into the mountains alone to collect medicine. The corpses were unrecognizable and mutilated. ”

"Dead, dead beyond recognition." Old Marquis Ming stroked the beard on his chin and said meaningfully: "That's really a coincidence." ”

Guo Chengsi said in a deep voice: "Can make a whole team of soldiers guarding the captives die quietly in an instant, and the lower official suspects that there is definitely more than one spy here." It's just that they covered it up too well, and the lower officials don't have a clue for the time being. ”

The cloudy old eyes of the old marquis of Ming suddenly shone brightly, he stroked his beard, and said slowly: "They colluded with the Khitans to burn the life-saving grain and grass, but they just wanted to make all the soldiers and people in Juchong Pass fall into chaos." Although their treacherous plan did not succeed under the misfortune. I'm afraid it won't settle down there. They're going to fight that grain again. Heir, are you sure those spies don't know that you've become suspicious? ”

Guo Chengsi thought for a while and said, "The lower official has only discussed this matter with Captain Rongdu. When I went to look for Zhao Yiming. It was also under the guise of looking for him to see a doctor. It is estimated that those spies hiding in the shadows should not know that the lower officials have become suspicious. ”

"Captain Rongdu"

Guo Chengsi arched his hand and said: "Captain Rong grew up with the lower officials, that is, he has no other relatives, and he has never been to Juchong Pass, and his innocent subordinates can definitely be trusted." ”

"That's good." Old Marquis Ming smiled slightly, and said slyly: "Come, let's discuss it well." Joined forces to break the game"

Guo Chengsi approached the old marquis of Ming, and the two lowered their voices to discuss. At this moment, it was already late at night, and the sound of the husband's bangs was weak. With one or two distant dog barks, the sound of bangzi went farther and farther.

It was a calm and ordinary night, and as many nights as had happened before, the wind howled. Falling leaves.

However, the trees want to be quiet and the wind does not stop.

Just when Guo Chengsi and the old marquis of Ming were secretly discussing countermeasures. Just across a long street, several mysterious people who were in a hurry also sneaked into the salt shop. And because of their gathering, the people of Juchongguan, who have just been reborn, may face unpredictable disasters again.

At this moment, Zhong Ziyuan was lying on the desolate grassland, looking up at the night sky above his head with his hands on his pillow. She found that the sky of the prairie was really very different from what she usually saw. It's so clear, the intricate stars seem to have been washed in water. Extraordinarily dazzling. Even the originally deep black curtain was like a few dark blue paints in the fine thick ink. The fainting of deep and shallow layers is extremely beautiful.

It's a pity that her mood of enjoying the beautiful scenery has been completely ruined by the strange sound coming from the carriage. The men's hoarse panting, the women's deliberately coquettish moans, and the regular ups and downs of the carriage were enough to let the people outside know what they were doing.

Although Zhong Ziyuan secretly felt disgusted in his heart, he didn't dare to stay away. Because Gemei's maid has been forcibly pulled away by those rough Khitans. From afar, you can still hear the rude and obscene laughter of the Khitans, and the small screams of the poor girl in terror.

Zhong Ziyuan trembled, and subconsciously wiped a hand of mud on his face. Her face had been covered with a crust of mud, and it was very sticky and uncomfortable. She had made herself so dirty, and she clung to the carriage and did not dare to leave a step, for fear that she would be treated so horribly. There were Khitan men like beasts everywhere around her, and she didn't dare to let her guard down for a moment.

I don't know how long it took, but the movement in the carriage had already stopped, and she gradually felt sleepy, so she slowly closed her eyes. There was a sound of footsteps, a little light and a little chaotic. Zhong Ziyuan was startled and quickly woke up. A pair of rough big hands had tightly covered her mouth, nose and eyes, and at the same time, several pairs of hands restrained her hands and feet, working together, actually trying to carry her away so quietly.

Zhong Ziyuan was so frightened that her heart skipped a beat, and at this moment she couldn't see, her hands and feet couldn't move, and a desperate mood began to overwhelm her. She opened her lips subconsciously, and she didn't know whose finger fell into her mouth. She was heartbroken and bit down hard. There was a soft "click", followed by the man's muffled screams of pain, and the next moment she was thrown to the ground.

Zhong Ziyuan immediately got up with a grunt, and three tall Khitan men stood in front of him. One was holding his fingers and panting in pain, and the other two glared at her viciously, their brass bell-like eyes shining brightly in the night.

Zhong Ziyuan gritted her teeth and cursed: "Bastard, you actually started while the old lady was asleep." As she spoke, she felt a foreign object in her mouth, and spit it out with a "poof", only to realize that it was actually a small piece of flesh with skin.

The Khitan man who had bitten off a piece of flesh by her was furious, and pulled out the scimitar on his waist with a "swish".

The cold light of the scimitar reflected on Zhong Ziyuan's eyes, causing her pupils to shrink. After she took a deep breath, she suddenly let go of her voice and screamed: "Dead donkey, if you don't come out again, I will scold your eight-generation ancestors." ”

Her voice was shrill and piercing, and it was heard far and wide in this vast grassland, and it was estimated that even the dead people underground would be woken up by her. Sure enough, the door of the carriage was opened with a "snap", and Yelu Tilie stepped out of the carriage with a frown on his robe, and Gemei also rubbed her eyes and walked with him in a daze.

Zhong Ziyuan's eyes lit up, she had never felt that Gemei was so cute. She immediately ran over, pulled at Gemei's sleeve, and whispered, "Madame, help me!" ”

Gemei frowned and said, "What's wrong?" ”

Zhong Ziyuan raised his hand and pointed at the three lustful Khitan men, and said angrily: "They want to misbehaves while I am asleep." ”

The two Khitans who were not injured saw Yelute's eyes showing a cold light, their eyes couldn't help shrinking, and they quietly retreated. Only the Khitan man who had bitten off a piece of flesh stared at Zhong Ziyuan unrelentingly, and muttered a big phone call in his mouth.

Zhong Ziyuan saw Yelu Tilie's serious face and replied to him, and glanced at himself helplessly. She felt strange in her heart, so she quietly asked Gemei. Ge kindly translated for her: "That warrior is asking the Khan for marriage, and he wants to marry you. ”

"What, he wants to marry me? Why? Zhong Ziyuan almost jumped up in anger. She could conclude that this Khitan man must have no good intentions.

Ge Mei glanced at her and said, "He is a warrior beside the Khan, you are the Khan's slave and maid, and you happen to be a match made in heaven, what's not to do?" I think it's pretty good. ”

Zhong Ziyuan was suffocated, she just felt that Gemei was cute, and in the blink of an eye, she had an urge to strangle her to death. She decisively threw away Gemei, stared at Yelu Thelie and warned solemnly: "You have no right to decide my marriage. ”

After pondering for a moment, Yelu Tilie said helplessly: "He is my most heroic subordinate, and he even risked his life to travel thousands of miles to rescue me, and I cannot refuse his request." ”

Zhong Ziyuan slowly narrowed her eyes, and she asked coldly, "Do you really want him to marry me?" She always felt that he had put so much effort into capturing him, and it must have been because he was of use to him. She never thought that this strong donkey would really want to throw herself to his subordinates in order to win people's hearts.

The corners of Yeluteri's eyes twitched, because his background was not high, so even if he had the support of Mr. Mu to become a khan, there were not many subordinates who really supported him wholeheartedly. And the subordinate in front of him not only has the right to speak in the family, but is also absolutely loyal to Yelu Tilie. Such a person is the object of his best efforts.

Maybe Yelu Tilie has a little bit of a beautiful mind about Zhong Ziyuan, but he still knows which is more important. So when facing Zhong Ziyuan's questioning, he was strangely silent.

Zhong Ziyuan's heart was half cold, and she sneered again and again: "I am a black widow, if your subordinate wants to marry me, I am afraid that my life will be lost." (To be continued.) )