Listening to the words of the old man in front of me, I couldn't help but look at Han Sheng beside me, Han Sheng understood, stepped forward and said: "Uncle, a few of us came from far away, and we felt a little hungry when we passed by, so we came to beg for food, can Uncle give me a stutter?" ”

"...... this?" When the old man heard Han Sheng's words, he immediately looked embarrassed.

Han Sheng took advantage of the situation to take out a piece of broken silver from his arms and handed it over, and continued: "Uncle, there are still some broken silver here, how about taking it as this meal money?" ”

The old man looked at the broken silver in Han Sheng's hand, and was suddenly a little dumbfounded, looking at his appearance like this, I thought he was stupid by the silver in front of him, after all, for a village with only a dozen households, even one or two pieces of silver is a huge amount of money, but the old man in front of him looked at the silver in Han Sheng's hand for a long time, and couldn't help but look at us before saying: "Childe, these silver can be eaten in our village for a year, if my old man accepts this silver, the Bodhisattva will blame me." ”

I looked at the old man's sincere fear, and couldn't help but sigh in my heart, this is the simple people!

I stretched out my hand and took the broken silver in Han Sheng's hand, stuffed it into the old man's hand and said, "Uncle, don't be surprised, since we have received your favor, it is reasonable to give some silver taels, not to mention the old saying, the grace of a drop of water should be reciprocated by a spring, and the Bodhisattva will not blame you." ”

"...... this?" The old man held the silver taels in his hand, looking at a loss.

Yuqiong, who was behind her, stepped forward and looked at the old man and said, "Uncle, if you really feel ashamed, then hurry up and take us to have a full meal." You won't be ashamed that way! ”

When the old man heard Yuqiong's words, he hurriedly said: "It's all my fault, it's all my fault, a few young ladies and gentlemen, come with me!" With that, he turned around and led us all the way.

This village is really not big, you can see the dozen or so families in front of you at a glance, I and the three girls and Situ Qing followed the old man all the way forward, Han Sheng was dragging the carriage behind, and soon the old man led us to a farmhouse, as soon as the old man walked into the courtyard, he couldn't help but shout loudly: "The old woman is coming out, there is a guest coming to the door." ”

"Who......?" The old man's voice just fell. There was a hoarse voice from inside the hut. Then a rickety figure staggered out.

As soon as the figure appeared, she looked at a few of us, but looking at her eyes, she also knew that she should be a charitable old woman, and the old man saw that the old woman was looking at us, and couldn't help but shout: "Old woman." Go cook for the guests! ”

"Cooking?" The old woman couldn't help but be slightly stunned when she heard the old man's words. He looked at the old man with a puzzled expression.

The old man listened to the old woman's answer. couldn't help but feel embarrassed, walked quickly to the front and stuffed the broken silver in his hand into her hand, and then whispered a few words to her. The old woman took the broken silver, nodded as if she didn't understand, and walked straight out of the farm yard without paying any more attention to us.

When the old man saw the old woman walk out of the farmyard, he looked at us and explained, "I'm really sorry, I'm afraid that the rice at home is not enough, so I asked the old woman to go to the neighboring village to buy some back!" As he spoke, he staggered into the grass hut and brought out a few simple wooden stools, "A few sons, a few girls, you better sit down first, and I'll pour some water!" Then he turned and went into the hut.

As soon as the old man returned to the thatched hut, I couldn't help but look at the small farmyard, which was not big, the simple bamboo fence looked like it was already full of leafy green branches, there was a well in the corner of the yard, a simple roller made of thick wooden poles was erected on it, and in the other part of the farmhouse there were some dried vegetables and peppers and other agricultural products, and three or two hens were leisurely wandering around, which made people feel a little quiet.

Looking at the scene in front of me, I suddenly felt my responsibility and mission as an official of the imperial court, and I really felt a bit of a burden when I saw this farmer family so hard.

"Brother Han, have you ever heard of what kind of person this Lord Yin Lian of Qizhou Mansion is?" I turned my head to look at Han Sheng beside me and asked tentatively.

Han Sheng frowned slightly when he heard my words, and replied in a low voice: "When I was in the palace, I heard that your lords commented on this even adult, saying that he was a good official. ”

Without waiting for me to speak, Yuqiong on the side looked at me and said, "Brother Bi, I heard my father once talk about this ...... of Lord Lian. ”

"Oh......? What did King Ming say? Hearing this, I turned my eyes to Yuqiong.

Yuqiong looked at me and whispered: "Father said that this Lian adult has ambitions and has the talent to stabilize the country, but he has repeatedly suffered the jealousy of villains, so he will be a small state and county as a governor, if he can be left and right, I am afraid he has already become the emperor's favorite minister." ”

"And how old is he now?" I looked at Yuqiong and asked.

"I heard from my father that he has passed the age of knowing the destiny of heaven." Yuqiong replied softly.

"Well, know the destiny of heaven!" Listening to Yuqiong's words, I said to myself slightly, as the old saying goes, stand at thirty, don't be confused at forty, and know the destiny of heaven at fifty, since he has passed the year of knowing the destiny of heaven, he is already in his fifties, and a Fu Yin who is already over fifty years old, I am afraid that he will not be honest according to the convention, and there must be something greasy in this.

The old man quickly brought out a few bowls of water and handed them to us, and we were not polite, so we took it and drank it, the water in this bowl was clear and sweet, and it was really thirst-quenching.

In the blink of an eye, the bowl of water was all drunk, and the old man took the empty bowl and was about to turn back to pour it again, but I stopped him.

"Uncle doesn't have to pour water, we're not thirsty anymore." I whispered.

The old man stopped and turned to look at me, his face cramped.

I looked at the old man and asked softly, "Uncle, how long have you lived in this village?" ”

"Childe, the old man grew up in this village since he was a child, not to mention the old man, even the old man's father and grandfather also grew up in this village." When the old man heard this, he immediately replied stiffly.

"What about the children of the uncle?" I couldn't help but ask again.

"The old man has a son and a daughter under his knees, the son was dragged to be a soldier, and the daughter has also married to a neighboring village a few years ago, and now only we are the old couple left in the family." As soon as the old man's chatterbox opened, he immediately began to speak.

I quietly led the topic to Lord Yin Lian of Qizhou Mansion, "Uncle, I heard that this Qizhou Mansion Yin is an honest and honest official, haven't you been given some benefits all these years in office?" ”

"Benefits?" The old man listened to me and looked at me inexplicably.

"Uh...... I mean, didn't the government collect less grain and less taxes? I patiently explained.

The old man immediately looked around nervously when he heard my words, then looked at a few of us, and said in a cautious voice: "Childe doesn't dare to talk nonsense......!" ”

When I heard this, I couldn't help but turn my head to look at Han Sheng and Yuqiong, and there seemed to be a deep meaning in my eyes.

Without waiting for me to speak again, the princess sitting next to Situ Hong couldn't help but look at the old man and asked in a coquettish voice: "Uncle, why do many people in the capital say that Lord Lian is a clean official?" ”

"Alas~, the girl doesn't know anything!" The old man couldn't help but sigh softly when he heard the princess's words, and there seemed to be endless grievances in his tone, "This Lord Lian seems to be a good official outside of Qizhou, and he will judge cases for our people every day, but in fact, only our people in Qizhou know that he is a biting dog who can't bark!" ”

"Oh?" Listening to the old man's words, I couldn't help but turn my head in surprise and glanced at Han Sheng beside me, at this time Han Sheng also frowned slightly as if thinking, and I could see that he was also shocked by what the old man said.

The old man seemed to see through our thoughts, and continued: "A few sons and girls don't know what to do, this Lian adult is called Lian Tieshou, just because he is ruthless, not to mention such things as collecting grain and conscription, even ordinary trivial things I am afraid he will also vary from person to person!" The old man said, raised his trembling hand and pointed to the wheat fields that were green in the sun not far away, "When you harvest the wheat in front of you, I'm afraid you will have to be harvested again......!" The old man said, and his eyes suddenly became foggy.

As she spoke, the old woman who had gone had turned around and walked back to the farmyard, with two more old hens and half a bag of rice in her hands, and seeing that there was still that indescribable cowardice in our eyes, she hurried to the old man's side and whispered something to him, then took out the remaining pieces of silver from her bosom and handed it to the old man, turned around and hurried back to the hut.

…… (To be continued......)