Because there were only two rooms in this hut, the twenty or so guards could only huddle into one room except for the vigil, spread a layer of hay directly on the ground, and sleep on the spot with clothes, which was also lively.

These guards are all strong and strong, and they have spent most of their time in the wilderness, which is a good condition for them.

Lin Feihong slept directly on the roof, and he was cool above.

The other room can only be lived by Zhang Xiang and the slave, Zhang Xiang originally wanted her to sleep on the couch and sleep on the ground by herself, but she refused to let her live or die, and if Zhang Xiang slept on the ground, she could only sleep on the ground, Zhang Xiang had no choice but to rely on her.

This first night, everyone who was tired spent it peacefully.

On the morning of May 17, Zhang Xiang was woken up by a burst of chatter outside the house, because he had slept well that night, and his mental state was also good, and when he turned his head to look over, the slave was long gone.

He quickly got up and went outside.

The situation outside the house also stunned him for a moment.

I saw that outside the fence, more than a dozen old, weak, sick and disabled, middle-aged, or elderly people were looking at their courtyard, and in addition to curiosity, there was also a slight fear in their eyes.

Some of these people he had seen when he came yesterday were the only remaining villagers in the village.

His guards stood neatly in the courtyard, staring cautiously at the group.

The slave was also observing the folks outside, protected by the guards.

Zhang Xiang walked straight out and asked, "What's going on?" ”

Hearing his voice, a guard hurriedly turned his head and saluted him, and the slave also hurriedly came to his side: "Donkey, the slave and maid don't know what's going on, it's like this when I came out just now, the guards, let the slave and maid be afraid, I'm afraid of these villagers." ”

Lin Feihong on the side walked over: "Owner, early in the morning, I saw a middle-aged man with a broken arm wandering outside the courtyard, so I looked at him for a while, and then he also saw me, turned around and left, and after a while, he came again, and brought these villagers, these villagers want to come in, I don't know what they want to do, so I asked the guards to stop these villagers first, I asked them what they were doing, they didn't speak, they just wanted to break into here, I didn't know what to look for." ”

Nu pulled his sleeve: "Don Ma, these are the villagers here, they are all very kind, there is no harm to others, it should be that we suddenly found that many of us have come here, so curious, I want to find out, just wait for the slave to ask, don't embarrass them." ”

Zhang Xiang nodded, then walked up, and said to the soil beside him: "These are just villagers who don't pose a threat, you group of guards, are you afraid that what they can do will not work?" Just ask. ”

Then Zhang Xiang walked up and arched his hand to the group of villagers: "Fellow villagers, under Zhang Mingheng, this time I came back, I brought the slave back to my hometown to see, the slave is also a person here, I don't know if anyone else knows her among the villagers present?" ”

Seeing that the group of people were just whispering to each other and discussing, Zhang Xiang asked again: "I don't know what the villagers are doing when they gather here early in the morning?" If the villagers have any needs or want to ask, they will be informed below, and they have no intention of offending you here, but simply bring the girl back next to you. ”

Then the men still didn't answer him.

I saw that the group of villagers whispered and discussed for a while, and only then did a middle-aged man with a full beard, a broken left arm, and a slightly lame leg step forward, and then glanced at them heartily, and finally put his eyes on the slave, and asked in a somewhat timid voice: "This girl, are you the girl of the Ren family back then?" ”

"Uncle, do you know me?" Hearing this familiar and unfamiliar question, the slave was taken aback, and then his face was full of surprise, and then he walked forward quickly.

The middle-aged man nodded: "When you entered the village yesterday, I looked at you a little familiar, but I just can't remember, after I went back, I thought about it all night, and then I remembered that the girl of the Ren family was a little similar to you, so I wanted to ask, what is the girl of the Ren family, what does it seem to be called?" It's just that I'm afraid of them, so I brought them over to see if any of them knew about you. ”

The slave was very excited: "Uncle, do you remember me?" I'm the girl from the Ren family back then, uncle, who are you? ”

"I'm the Butcher, the Butcher who went up to the mountains to hunt with your father Lao Ren in the east of the village." The middle-aged man was in tears.

"It turns out that you are Uncle Tu, why did you become like this? Broken left arm too? I didn't recognize it at all. The slave was surprised, because this middle-aged man not only had a full beard, but also had no flesh on one side of his face, as if it had been hollowed out, only a pair of skin bags, and the raised bones on his cheeks were shocking, because of this, the eyes on that side were still sunken, and one side was normal, but the contrast between the two faces was too great, and it looked like a monster.

In short, even if the facial features are destroyed, no one can recognize them!

The middle-aged man named Tu Tiefu was on the right side intact, but his wrinkled cheeks showed a sour look: "It's a long story, when I went up the mountain to hunt and was bitten by a poisonous snake, in order to prevent the spread of poison, I could only cut off my left arm by myself, but it was still a step slower, and the poison still spread to this side of the face, which hurt me for a long time, and then the flesh in this side of the face slowly rotted, and over time, the new meat could not grow, and it became the appearance of this half-human and half-ghost." ”

The slave's face was full of distress: "When I left with my father and mother, I didn't find Uncle Tu, and then I heard that Uncle Tu might have left one step ahead of us, but later on the way to the east, my father inquired about Uncle Tu's news everywhere, but no one knew, I didn't expect Uncle Tu to be here." ”

Tu Tiefu shook his head: "Alas, I am reluctant to leave, but I can't bear to see the villagers leave, so in those days, I hid in the mountains to let others think that I had left, and I didn't come back until you were all almost gone." Over the years, I have been living, and I have been much better over the years, the drought is gone, and the wild vegetables have grown, but the people are gone, and I have become like this, my leg is because I fell down from the mountain and fell lame, and I can't do anything...... I was excited and scared to see so many people coming this time, so I wanted to come and see it, but I didn't expect it to be you, the girl, who came back... It's good to be back, it's good to be back... Why didn't your father, your mother, come back? This is your husband, right? ”

The slave turned his head and glanced at Zhang Xiang, and then shook his head at Tu Tiefu: "Uncle Tu, my father, my mother has passed away, they died on the way to flee, I later went to a big family to be a maid, this is my aunt, is the husband of the sister of the big family, not the husband of Yi, Uncle Tu must not be messy." Uncle treated Yi as a relative, and after learning what happened to Yi, my uncle specially brought Yi back this time, retrieved the bones of his parents, and brought them back to his hometown for burial, but he didn't go to find the bones of his parents, because of some reasons, so he returned to his hometown first. ”

"Oh!" The Tu Tiefu hurriedly bowed to Zhang Xiang: "Tu is a rough man, with a stupid mouth, please forgive the son." ”

Zhang Xiang hurriedly helped him up and smiled in a joking tone: "It's okay, those who don't know are not guilty, along the way, there are many people who think that the husband who is a slave is not the uncle, if I blame, then I can't blame it!" ”

The slave listened and bowed his head.

Immediately, Zhang Xiang glanced at the slave with a strange gaze, and suddenly said, "Slave, it turns out that you have a name?" Why don't you tell me all the time? I always thought you were a slave. ”

The slave bit his lip lightly and looked at him apologetically: "Uncle forgiveness, the slave's surname is Ren, the name is Junyi, after becoming my sister's maid, my sister gave the name slave, because of the death of his parents, the slave does not want to mention the slave's name with others, so many years, the slave has also been accustomed to the name slave, and the slave has been a person in the house for so many years, so the original surname is nothing to worry about." ”

"Ren Junyi? What a nice name. Zhang Xiang waved his hand: "The surname is the source of recognizing the ancestors and returning to the ancestors, and the name is the gift of the parents, neither of which can be thrown away, although the sister gives you a name slave, but you can't forget your real name." ”

"Uncle, the slave didn't forget." The slave hurriedly shook his head and became anxious.

Zhang Xiang said with a smile: "I know you haven't forgotten now, I just think I want to remind you." ”

Then he thought for a while: "But I do call you slave used to it, and you asked me to change my words, I really don't get used to it." ”

The two masters served for a while, and the Tu Tiefu next to him thanked Zhang Xiang and said: "Thank you Gongzi for taking care of the Ren family girl for so many years, Tu Mou's father has thanked Gongzi on behalf of the Ren family's girl." ”

Zhang Xiang stretched out his hand to him again: "Alas, Uncle Tu, although the slave is my family's maid, she and my mother have long been like sisters, that is, my mother's sister, how can I take care of one?" Slaves have long been our relatives, and relatives help each other, and that is how it should be. ”

Then he glanced at the group of villagers behind him, and Zhang Xiang hurriedly said: "Come, Uncle Tu, don't stand, sit in the house, let those villagers, everyone come in!" ”

Then he turned back to the guards around him and said: "In the house, there are not so many people, you go to find some stools and put them in the yard, let the villagers come in and sit, and at lunchtime, even theirs are done together, since the villagers are here, then have a reunion dinner with the big guys, if the dishes are not enough, I will let Lin Feihong ride a horse to the market to buy some back." ”

The guards hurriedly took the order to go and find a stool.

Zhang Xiang and the slave welcomed Tu Tiefu into the house.

The villagers in this Henghe Valley, old and crippled, are the only ones in front of him who can communicate normally.

Zhang Xiang asked them how they had come over the years.

According to Tu Tiefu, there are only 21 people in the Yokogawa Valley now, and they are basically all here, and there were nearly 100 people when the villagers fled, but in the following period, many died of starvation.

The drought lasted for three years, and the rain did not fall in the Yokogawa Valley, and the villagers were almost gone, so the remaining wild vegetables, wild fruits, and other edible things in the nearby mountains could barely sustain the rest of the people, and most of them survived by relying on their tenacious vitality.

After four years of neighboring years, it finally rained and the drought was solved, but there was no labor force in the Yokogawa Valley, and the original crops were all destroyed in the three years of drought, and no one had the ability to cultivate them.

Fortunately, in these years, the wild vegetables and wild fruits on the mountain are also growing one after another, and the villagers in the village basically rely on such things to survive, and he will occasionally go up and down the mountain to catch some game and come back to share with everyone, if there is a surplus, you can also get some to go to the market to exchange for one or two copper coins.

Yes, except for Tu Tiefu himself, the remaining twenty people are basically taken care of by him.

Although life is hard, but over the years, everyone has come over like this.

Hearing this, the slave on the side also became sour, and she glanced at Zhang Xiang for help.

Zhang Xiang smiled and said, "Don't worry, I will help Uncle Tu with them." ”

So, Zhang Xiang decided to live in the Yokogawa Valley for a while, and in the following days, he sent all the guards out, found all the tools in the village, and reclaimed a piece of the former crop land in the Yokogawa Valley.

These guards were all farmers before they became guards, and now they are strong and strong, and they are quite comfortable with this set.

After the crops were cleared, Zhang Xiang helped them grow some vegetables that could be eaten as soon as possible.

It is better to teach a man to fish than to teach him to fish.

Although these things are not much, they are enough to sustain the survival of these twenty-one people for a while.

After all, he can't stay here for too long, he can only do as much as he can.

Just do your best.

In this era, people like Yokogawa Valley are actually like this, even in the era of his previous life, such people abound, but no one knows, and all that can be seen is only the tip of the iceberg. It's a lot, but I just met it, and if I can help, I can't help, and if I can't, I can't do anything.

In fact, not only in this era, but in every era

Life is like this, it is as small as an ant.

In this way, Zhang Xiang and others stayed in the Yokogawa Valley for about half a month, and the time also came to June.

These days, although he was in this temporary peaceful and quiet place, the black tide that he had been worried about was also rolling in.

The time has to start from May 20th.

May 20 of the eighteenth year of Yongping happened to be a whole year when Zhang Xiang came to Nanchu.

Yang Yue and Wei Zhuang robbed the military grain from Xichuan Road to Liangzhou, and transported it back to Xichuan Yuandu Mansion again, according to the process of robbing the grain was very tragic, thousands of people died on the river, and the corpses flowed downstream for thousands of miles along the river, when the state capitals on both sides of the river got the news, Yang Yue and Wei Zhuang had already escorted the boat back to the territory of Xichuan Road, and when they chased over, they were blocked on the river by the Zhending army and did not dare to cross.

On May 21, news came from the Yuandu Mansion that shocked the entire Southern Chu, and Liu Qingyin, the former princess of Chu and Princess An Huai, set up the orthodox restoration banner of the Great Chu in the Yuandu Mansion, restored the Great Chu regime, and conquered the Southern Chu, and Wei Lie also surfaced as Ge Xiu, the general of the Pingxi of the Great Chu.

There are many main figures involved in this rebellion, in addition to Liu Qingyin and Wei Lie, the two former Chu royal families, there are many former Chu relics who have gradually stood up, in addition, there are many characters who have surprised many people, such as the family of the Honglu Temple mission who died in the Chongguan negotiations, Kang Yu, Tong Jingchu, Xia Dinghe, Bai Shiguang, Kong Fu, Hou Yin, etc. are all in the list of rebellions.

As soon as the list of these rebellions came out, it seemed that many people understood that many things had happened since the beginning of the month, and it seemed that these former Chu remnants were responsible.

Of course, the most caries thing for all is probably the rebellion of Sun Qing, the commander of the Zhending Army.

When Sun Qing rebelled and joined the army of Great Chu to restore the country, the news spread to Bianjing, the court was boiling, which was not only related to the entire Yuan capital was controlled by Wei Lie, but also related to the safety of the northwest frontier of Southern Chu.

The occurrence of many major events shook the imperial rule of Southern Chu in a few times, and the whole court was in turmoil, which also affected the war with the Northern Liao in Liangzhou, and the privy envoy Wenbo had negotiated with the Northern Liao for several days since he went north, hoping that the Northern Liao would return the captured General Zhang Chi, but unfortunately the Northern Liao had opened very harsh conditions, resulting in the two sides not letting go.

Wenbo was helpless, and on May 27, he fought a battle with Northern Liao, and after losing 2,000 soldiers and horses, he did not dare to act rashly.

Since the princess of Da Chu raised the banner of restoration and took control of the Yuan capital, the emperor Zhao Yan also urgently mobilized the forbidden army and the box army on the Jinghu Road, composed of 150,000 men and horses, and drove into the Yangtze River on the Xichuan Road to station.

On May 30, Lin Feihong, who had just returned to Yokogawa Valley from the bazaar, brought back a message to Zhang Xiang.

Xijin's 30,000 vanguard army had crossed the Shangyuan Plain in the west, smashed into the hinterland of Qin Feng, and forced Yingzhou City, and the market he went to had just been bloodied by the incoming Xijin army.

On the first day of June, Zhang Xiang's carriage left the Yokogawa Valley and rushed back in the direction of Yingzhou City as fast as possible...