The caravan rested at the liquor shop for the afternoon, and was almost at the end of the day before resuming the road. Whether it was a packer or a merchant, they all had some complaints about the steward's decision, because it was the hottest time of the day, and the poisonous sun hanging overhead made people's gasps and breaths with a blazing breath. But the steward also has a good speech, there are still forty miles from here to Quzhou City, half of which is still a mountain road, if you don't move now, I'm afraid that you can't get to Quzhou City, and the sky should be dark......

Facts have proved that the steward's words are very reasonable, less than twenty miles of mountain road, the pack team walked for two hours without finishing, until the sun is slightly westward and the sky is already unitary time, the front and back of the single march before and after pulling out of the mile land can be out of the mountain into the flat land. Not far from the foot of the mountain is a river bay. Because it was summer, the rainfall was abundant, and the turbid river had already overflowed the riverbed, and the turbulent water rolled up wave after wave, knocking a lying rock by the river into the air. Not far from the river is a large mixed forest, lush and green; There are also a few old apricot trees that are crooked, probably because there are few people in this area, and the yellow apricot fruits among the flourishing branches and leaves are large and bright, hanging heavily on the branches; As soon as the mountain breeze blows, a fresh sweet and soft breath comes to the face, which makes people can't help but salivate. The packers looked at the apricot fruit one by one and swallowed their saliva, and they all stared at the big steward with their eyes. The chief steward also walked sweaty, picked up the towel on his shoulders to wipe his face, waved his hand and said generously, "Just rest here for a while." Hearing him say this, the packmen all cheered, and several young young offspring who had not grown old had already lost the reins in their hands and went straight to the apricot trees. The chief steward scolded with a smile in his mouth, and then ordered, "The pack is not under the frame, hurry up and drink the horses and feed the ......" As he spoke, he assigned two young men to the front to explore the way.

As he spoke, the deputy steward also caught up, looking at the chaos in the woods by the riverside, with a little uncertainty on his face. He didn't want to have a seizure on the spot, but he walked to the chief steward with a calm face, and said in a low voice, "...... I can't rest here, I have to leave quickly. Ten miles ahead to Yuegou. After crossing the Yuegou, you can rest anywhere. ”

The chief steward grinned noncommittally. At this time, a young man who woke up brought a handful of apricots with a clean white cloth in his hand. The apricot fruit had been washed in the stream, and the plump and round golden fruit was still hanging with crystal droplets, and the chief steward grabbed one and put it in his mouth and took a bite, and said indistinctly as he chewed, "I know you're worried about it—aren't you afraid of the bandits in the mountains?" Don't worry, I've already sent someone to explore the way ahead, and I can't make a mistake. Besides, we have walked down the mountain road in the past few days, and we haven't seen the shadow of half of the bandits, it seems that the bandits in this mountain have been wiped out by the official army......"

"When did the officials and soldiers suppress the bandits not say that they had exterminated them, but when did they really exterminate the bandits? He died through the sky, but it is difficult for the people under him to ensure that few of them have escaped the net, if they ......"

The chief steward spit out the apricot kernel on the ground, and interrupted the deputy steward's words with a smile: "Of course it won't be wiped out, and there will definitely be those who have slipped through the net, but what big storm can a few little thieves who have slipped through the net set off?" We also have twenty or thirty people, if there are really thieves who don't have long eyes and dare to come, let's take one by one, tie them all up and send them to the government! Hey, a bandit can also exchange for a reward of 500 Wen! He grabbed the apricot fruit plug in the hand of the young man, and said, "You can taste it too, this apricot is ripe, and it is not astringent at all." So saying, he sat down on his own in the shade that had been set aside for him at the edge of the woods.

The deputy steward threw the apricots to the young man, and hurriedly followed him to continue to persuade: "There is no rest here! There are mountains on both sides, and there is a river, and if you are surrounded by bandits here, you will not even be able to get out! If you want to rest, you have to go to Yuegou ......"

The chief steward laughed and ignored him, leaning against the tree and munching on the apricot, glancing at the young merchant and the singing woman talking. Looking at the dress of the singing woman, it was obvious that she was a wandering veteran, her eyes were flowing between her hands and feet, and her smile was full of charm, and the young merchant was already obsessed with her eyes. Even the chief steward, who has been away all year round, couldn't help but swallow his saliva when he looked at the woman's coquettish appearance.

“…… We have been walking for more than ten days this time, and we are about to arrive at the place, if we are not careful, will we not suffer this sin in vain? "The deputy steward is still chattering bitterly, hoping that the chief steward will change his mind." Although it is only twenty miles away from Quzhou and less than ten miles from Yuegou, I don't know what's going on in my heart, and I always can't calm down frizzily. After all, this is not a peaceful realm after all. Yes, the people who broke through the sky were suppressed by the officials and soldiers, but you also know that this area is not just a group of bandits who broke through the sky. In addition to him, there are several large and small green forests around, although it is not said that there is no climate, it stands to reason that it does not move our guts, but it can't prevent someone from jumping over the wall and biting us; Even if we rely on the number of people to cross this hurdle, it is difficult to say whether people and goods can be both. Besides, it's not necessarily a good thing to break through the sky on this road - there were originally bandits from other places who didn't dare to cross the border to find trouble, but now the situation is difficult to say, the blind man on Wednesday in the cool breeze mouth and the village of the living person Zhang here in Quzhou are close to the left, I'm afraid they won't watch this piece of oil and water and don't do anything......"

As soon as he spoke, a deep Sichuan character had appeared on the forehead of the big steward. He chewed the apricot meat that had long lost its taste in his mouth, squinted his eyes and stared at the half of the apricot fruit in his hand, and said in a dumb voice for a long time: "You are right! It's me who thinks things are wrong! The splitter threw away the half-pulled apricot, and as soon as he got up, he beckoned the man to pack up and set off.

After a while, the pack team regrouped, and the deputy steward made a rough count of the number of cattle, and only the two young men who had just been sent to the front to explore the road had not returned. The deputy steward didn't take it too seriously. He thought that the caravan had already rushed forward anyway, and they could always meet them halfway in two miles, and there was no need for someone to greet them; And it's better to have someone in front of you, and if there's really something going on, the pack team can be prepared. Just as he ran to the front of the team to tell the chief steward that everything was in order and he was ready to go on the road, he saw a figure swaying on the hill in front of him.

Brigand?

The deputy steward's heart immediately rose to his throat.

At this time, many people also saw the group of people. Some of the sharp-eyed fellows also saw that not only were there three on horseback among the men of unknown origin, but all of them were carrying the guy in their hands. The packer immediately fell silent. Almost everyone, whether it was a porter or a merchant, had their faces changed color, and they all stared at the group of people with bated breath. Someone had already removed the tarpaulin from the pannier, his hands were on his knives and guns, and his eyes were nervously patrolling back and forth between the chief steward and the group of fellows—as soon as the chief steward made a gesture and gave an order, they were ready to strike first.

The group was clearly unprepared for this sudden encounter, and as soon as they emerged from the hill, they stopped, panicked for a while, and then formed a group on the hill, watching the caravan's movements vigilantly. After a long time, a short brown guy ran over with an iron knife in his hand, and after a short inquiry and conversation, he heard that this was the pack team of Yanshan Liu Ji Warehouse, and ran back with his rag shoes that were about to fall off. After a short time, I saw only three people on horseback on the hill get together and discuss a few words, and I saw that the first one raised his horsewhip and pointed at the caravan and said a few words with a smile, and the other two people both smiled, and each shook his head and smiled bitterly and urged his mount to go down the hill.

It's not a bandit, it's the eldest young master of the Zhang family from Quzhou's old Wang Ji who went into the mountains to hunt! The news quickly spread throughout the pack caravan. The packmen and merchants, who had been so nervous that their palms were sweating, immediately let out a long breath, and then hastily drove the pack horses to the side of the road to make way for the group of hunters who had gone into the mountains to make their debut. Of course, there are also people who have an extra heart, although they give way to the road, they do not put down the weapons in their hands, and still stand on the side of the road with knives and guns, carefully staring at this group of guys who suddenly appeared.

The young master of the Zhang family and his companions didn't take the caravan seriously, except for a little glance at the chief steward with a curious gaze when they approached, they didn't take the packmen and merchants seriously, and just laughed with the two companions on the horse:

“…… Li Xiucai is a temperamentless person, he was pointed at the monk and scolded the bald donkey by the old father-in-law in front of him, but he was not annoyed, and he went to the old father-in-law's house again one day later," he was already laughing on horseback, and only after a while did he sigh and say, "Guess, if he goes again that day, what will his old father-in-law say to him?" ”

"Say what?"

His old father-in-law said, ......"The young master of the Zhang family was already smiling so hard that his eyes narrowed into a slit, and he said three or four "say" words in a row, but he couldn't tell what Li Xiucai's father-in-law said. Not to mention that his two companions were anxious by his half-story that he couldn't reach the world and didn't rely on the ground, and even the packer who listened to his jokes was anxious for him, full of wondering what Li Xiucai's father-in-law said, but until the young master of the Zhang family and a group of people walked out of the land with more than one stone, they could only see the young master of the Zhang family holding the horse's neck and shrugging his shoulders with a smile......

The group had not gone far, and before the dust from the horse's hooves had cleared, they turned back in a flickering manner. I heard the young master of the Zhang family shouting loudly on horseback: "May I ask that woman, is it the Nine Ladies who chanted 'singing'?" ”

Hearing him ask so loudly, the singing woman who had been entangled with the young merchants in the pack team since the small wine shop in the mountains was at first, frowned and thought for a while, then stood on the side of the road with a smile, stretched out her hand to press the sideburns, and clanged with two pieces of iron between her fingers, and her face was like a flower. Dare to ask who Childe is? ”

While speaking, the boy brother had already come to a close place, grabbed the reins and turned over and dismounted, and threw the reins to the entourage who was in a hurry to catch up, so he stood there and bowed slightly to Jiu Niangzi, and said: "Of course Jiu Niangzi doesn't know Xiao Ke, but Xiao Ke has admired Jiu Niangzi for a long time. I remember that I listened to Jiu Niangzi chant a song "Bo Langsha" in the state city last month, and I admired Jiu Niangzi's talent very much, and thought about how to find a way to pay respects. It's a pity that there were other things delayed first, and then I got free, and Jiu Niangzi had already left the state capital, and by chance, I couldn't see it. I didn't expect to meet here today, but I finally got my wish. He said and gave another salute.

Most of the packers on both sides of the road are from the Zhuang family, and the young master of the Zhang family listened to these half-literate words in his ears, and he was naturally ignorant and incomprehensible, although he said that looking at the appearance of the young master of the Zhang family and the singing woman seemed to have some inside information, but at this time, everyone was full of thoughts about rushing to Quzhou City to receive the hundreds of Wen rewards, and they didn't care about these sour words, and they all stood on the side of the road and waited for the steward to speak and hurry. Seeing the young master of the Zhang family's pretending to play, he knew that the young master of the Zhang family had already had the intention to hook up with the female singer of the song, but he failed to do so at the time, and finally met here today, who would have thought that there would be a young merchant next to the nine ladies, so he had to come to such a literary play, so they were all interested, and they were originally standing behind the packers, but now they are all crowded to the front to see the show. There are also two merchants who have also read for a few days, and they saw that the boy brother was thick and strong, his square face was sharp and angular, and he was black and shiny, and the moon-white fine silk robe on his body was soaked in sweat one after the other, and there were several large tangled muscle bumps on the ridges - this so-called boy brother is obviously a rude and vulgar person, but he just wants to hold his body and pretend to be Sven, and the words he said are even more incorrect, and the inscription is not right, and he is all smiling. Someone turned his eyes to the young merchant again. The young merchant's face was already pale, and he just sneered and watched with his hands in his hands.

After the young master of the Zhang family finished the salute, he turned back to the two partners who came with him and said, "This is the Jiu Niangzi that you and you often mention, the skill of singing and singing is the best in Quzhou, don't look at Sister Su in Jiaxing Building, who is known as Yanjue City, I think she is compared with Jiu Niangzi, and the difference is not a little ......."

"The slave family is just a person who walks the street and sings, I'm afraid I don't deserve such praise from you." The woman lowered her head and said in a coquettish voice, "Besides, the vulgar slang songs sung by the slave family, I'm afraid they will tarnish the elegance of the son." ”

As soon as these words came out, Yuan Lan first slapped the entourage on the shoulder, and when he smiled, he leaned back and smiled, and said in his mouth: "Okay! Good! …… stained the elegance of the child...... I'm afraid that Tian Qingshan can't say such words! Haha, it stains the elegance of the child...... Haha......" The entourage was slapped by him and took two steps before standing still, rubbing his shoulders while looking at the young master of the Zhang family and the singing woman and smiling with teeth.

The young master of the Zhang family also grinned and said in a loud voice: "Deserve it!" How not! If the Nine Ladies can't deserve it, then who else can? As he spoke, he raised his arm and walked a few steps forward, as if he was going to come up to help the singing woman, and suddenly took a step to the side, stretched out his hand and grabbed the shoulder of Yuan Lan's entourage, and squeezed down his arm, already pinching the man's right wrist with one hand and holding the man's upper arm with the other, and with a roar in his mouth, the two hands worked hard together, only to hear a click, accompanied by a scream, and the arm of the entourage hung down softly in a strange and inexplicable shape. His two companions were not slow with their hands and feet, and only then did they make a move, and one of them stretched out the hard bow in his hand and hooked the neck of a guy in the storehouse, and pulled the man to his side, and pulled out a short knife and wiped it in the man's neck, and then let the man go, and the man staggered and fell to his knees in the middle of the road, holding his bloody throat with both hands, and his mouth gurgled and fell into the middle of the road after grunting twice, and his hands and feet twitched and then he stopped moving, and saw that he was dead; The other companion drew the arrow and buckled the bow to aim at the sa few movements in one go, and with the sound of a bowstring, the chief steward who had been standing in the line and had been watching the excitement fell in response.