After eating, Huo Shiqi watched his younger brother pack up the dishes, chopsticks and pots and go out, and then asked his wife: "Where is Erya?" Are you looking for Yue'er again? ”

Aunt Seventeen was sewing the hem of a pair of cotton pants under the oil lamp, and when she heard her husband ask herself, she stopped the needlework in her hand, nodded slightly, sighed and said, "Yes." I heard from the people who fled that the imperial court suffered a defeat in the north, and tens of thousands of people died......"

Huo Shiqi held the teacup and impatiently interrupted his mother-in-law's words: "Don't listen to people's noise!" That's a boring thing spread by boring people, don't believe it, and don't spread it nonsense. In September, the news began to circulate in various places, first it was just some rumors, and then it spread more and more violently, causing panic in the people. At first he didn't believe it. The matter is clear, the Liyuan camp and the tens of thousands of troops of the Three Davids, and Xiao Shangzhuguo is personally in command, even if the battle does not go well, it is impossible to lose the battle so easily! It wasn't until he went back to the county seat that he knew from Huo Liu that this rumor was true, and the imperial court was not only defeated on the grassland, but also defeated, and less than half of the 100,000 troops fled back; Several veteran generals who led the troops, Xiao Jian was detained in Bohaiwei, Yang Du was dismissed in Bohaiwei, Li Wei, the commander of Yanshanwei, was imprisoned in Dingjinwei, and Guo or something has been escorted back to Beijing......

Aunt Seventeen put the needle in her bun, lowered her head to thread the trouser hem, and said with a smile: "I want to pass it on, and someone has to be willing to listen to me." She glanced at her husband's gloomy face and could almost wring out the water, her brows were tightly pressed together, her heart jumped, and she was so frightened that she pricked her fingers with the tip of a needle and didn't immediately notice the pain, and asked, "The court is really defeated?" ”

Huo Shiqi swallowed his saliva and said "um" softly.

Aunt Seventeen was speechless for a long time, and then said: "Actually, there is a thing, I don't know if I should tell you or not......" She looked at the flickering lanterns for a while, and then said in a hurry, "Last afternoon, I went to the Zhangjia mill to mill rice, and I heard that people said,...... I heard that the monk was afraid...... I'm afraid I'm dead. ”

Huo Shiqi just held the teacup and said "hmm", as if he was a little distracted, and only blinked his eyes in confusion for a long time and asked, "What did you just say?" Why did you suddenly mention the monk. …… What happened to the monk? He came back with a letter? ”

"Nope. It's just that I heard that something might have happened to him......"

Huo Shiqi frowned suddenly: "Something happened to him?" What could happen to him? He was transporting grain in the back, how could something happen?! He asked one after another, and the more he spoke, the louder he became. You let me say what you are good about! It's okay if you're full of sky-high prices, so you know how to learn these nonsense? Who are the monks of ours? What can you say? You ......" In the end, he could no longer suppress the evil fire in his heart, and slammed the teacup on the table, spilled the soup and tea residues on the table, and asked sharply, "Who are 'they'?" I'm going to theorize with them! ”

Aunt Seventeen knew that she had said the wrong thing, so she blushed and defended in a low voice: "When they were talking, I accidentally heard it." I didn't talk to anyone else, I just told you. ”

Huo Shiqi raised his head and took a deep breath, forced himself to suppress the surging anger in his heart, and asked, "Don't tell me this!" Let me ask you, who is saying these things behind your back? ”

“…… I heard that this first came out of the mouth of the old woman of the Tian family in Houzhentou. A few days ago, she dreamed that her two grandsons gave her a dream and asked the family to burn paper money for them. She also said that she saw many people in the market town who were born with the two descendants of the Lao Tian family, and the monks were also ......

Her nagging made Huo Shiqi unbearable, and he grabbed the teacup and wanted to smash it at his mother-in-law, but in the end, he didn't give up his heart after all, and slammed the bowl on the ground and scolded: "You, you...... You damn! Why are you so ignorant? ”

Aunt Seventeen was startled by the broken lamp, and then realized that she had unknowingly said the wrong thing again.

Huo Shiqi's face was dark, the green tendons on his forehead suddenly exploded, and he panted and circled around his feet four or five times. He really wants to beat his mother-in-law! This kind of thing can be preached by others, how can she hang it on her lips? The monk sent troops in front of him to release the horses, and the most taboo thing was to lick the blood on the knife! After a few turns, he suddenly remembered something: the north side was defeated, and the rout was about to retreat when he spoke, and these stragglers had no command constraints, which was more terrible than anything else - they dared to do anything......

He immediately said to his mother-in-law: "Hurry up and pack up the important things at home, I'll call Shangyue'er Pan'er and Sun Zhongshan's daughter-in-law, let's go to the sixth brother's house in the county seat overnight to hide for a few days!" ”

"What's wrong? What's wrong, you're in such a hurry? ”

"Why do you ask so much? Do what you are told to do! Huo Shiqi hurried to the door of the house in two steps, threw off his cotton shoes, and put on a pair of mud-stained cowhide boots, "Have you forgotten the incident in the third year of the Eastern Common Era?" ”

At the mention of the third year of the Eastern Era, Aunt Seventeen couldn't help but shiver: "God! How did I forget this! "She was already in her teens in the third year of Eastern Era, and she had already remembered, so she remembered the events of that year clearly. In the spring of that year, the defeated Zhao army was defeated at Guangpingyi, and the defeated Zhao soldiers caused a miasma in several prefectures and counties in the south. Not only the military disaster, but also the banditry, several large bandits took advantage of the chaos to rob, and countless villages and villages were destroyed. She still remembers the soldiers who looked more bandits than bandits, all of them rushing left and right in the village like a pack of hungry wolves, robbing everything they saw, money, food, livestock, cloth...... There's almost nothing they don't want. They not only robbed property and things, but also robbed women, and her two aunts were abused by these bandits, and they threw themselves into the well to find a short-term ......

She hurriedly threw aside the work in her hand, shouted at her brother to help with a loud voice, and turned over the boxes and cabinets to pack up her things, seeing that her husband had put on his boots to go out, and hurriedly asked: "It's curfew in the county so late, how can we enter the city when we arrive?" Why don't we leave early tomorrow morning? ”

"Can't wait!" Huo Shiqi stood under the dripping eaves and looked up at the sky. The rain was still falling, and the sky was still glowing white. "Curfews are not afraid. Yue'er has Xuntian's red silk red deed, and Yixian County dares not to open the door! ”

Xuntian!

As soon as his words came out, the hearts of the couple were chuckled. The monk led Xun Tianli, how could they forget this big thing! Others can escape, but monks can't run! Not to mention the monk, even the two women of Yue'er and the Yang family who live in his house can't escape, even if the Tuqi people call, the entire Huojiabao people have run out, and now the people who live in the merchant compound can't run! Failure to keep the field is the sin of "abandoning the land", and it is an unforgivable capital crime!

Aunt Seventeen looked at her husband anxiously and asked, "Then, what should I do now?" ”

Huo Shiqi was silent for a moment, and said calmly: "You pack up your things and put them away." Recruit brother, go and call my sister. Let's all go to the monk's side. ”

Aunt Seventeen looked at her husband with complicated eyes, hesitated, and said nothing. She could understand why her husband was doing this. He has been deeply blaming himself for what happened to Lianniang; If he leaves Yue'er behind this time, then even if nothing happens in the end, he will no longer have the face to face the monk, and he will spend the rest of his life in the ridicule and ridicule of others. This is something more serious than he can't keep his talent crown! was stripped of his fame, and it can be said that he is not knowledgeable enough and has bad luck, but if he abandons Yue'er and them to run for his life alone at this time, what will others think of him? At that time, he was a real villain in the eyes of others, and their family would never have a time to turn over again, who would dare to deal with a guy who violated the Five Constants without benevolence, righteousness, rudeness, wisdom and trust?

She quickly packed up the little valuable things left in the house, grabbed a few changes of clothes for the adult dolls, and went out with her two daughters and her husband and got into her carriage. Although she and the merchant are in a market town, she doesn't need to take a car at all, but she is reluctant to take this carriage one by one, this is a gift from her short-lived son-in-law to the two of them before she got married, and it is a family business that the eldest girl "earned" for the two of them......

When Huo Shiqi's family rushed to Shang Cheng's house, Yue'er didn't know what was about to happen, so she took Yang Pan'er, who lived here, and Sun Zhongshan's daughter-in-law, Yang Dou'er, to greet her.

By this time it was already dark. The rain is still falling. Suddenly, a few dog barks rang out to the north of the market town. Immediately after that, dogs barked everywhere, and a few fires had flashed on the official road to the south, and someone could be heard screaming and shouting amid the crying and scolding: "The bandits are coming!" Someone shouted: "It's a soldier!" Run away, everyone! ”

Huo Shiqi saw that several girls were standing on the steps and watching, and hurriedly shouted: "Quick! Get on board! Aunt Seventeen didn't expect the defeated soldiers to come so quickly, jumped out of the car with a burden in one hand, reached out to pick up the four girls who were crying with the car wheel, and hurriedly stepped up the steps, but unexpectedly slipped under her feet and fell into the mud, and when she wanted to get up again, a few torches were turned out at the end of the street, and the two groups of soldiers with crooked helmets and armor had stepped on the muddy water all the way to clatter, and shouted while running: "it!" Captain He, you're right, it's really a big family here! A rough voice also shouted: "Stop them quickly!" One by one, the door is not allowed to close! Dare to close the door and slaughter you! Hurry up and stop it! ”

When Er Ya and Pan'er helped Aunt Seventeen up, more than a dozen or twenty stout soldiers had already surrounded the steps of the courtyard gate, swords, guns, iron armor and leaves clanged chaotically, and in the light and shadow of a few torches shaking, a guy who looked like an officer walked up to the front with his footsteps, looked up at the words on the upper door by the firelight, and looked at a few frightened girls one by one, and finally fell on Huo Shiqi who was wearing a long jacket, and finally fell on Huo Shiqi, who was wearing a long jacket, and giggled a few strange laughs like night owls, and said: "Heh, this is the old man, right?" Speaking of voice, this is the Captain He who threatened to close the door and destroy it.

Huo Shiqi took two steps forward, protected his wife and several female babies behind him, neither denied nor admitted, and asked, "What do you want?" ”

"What do you want?" The officer's triangular eyes, one large and one small, swept over several people, and said, "We don't want to do anything. But the brothers came here hungry and thirsty, and wanted to ask the merchant for a bowl of water to drink, and a hot meal to eat. ”

"Okay. You wait here, and I'll let someone boil water and cook for a few military masters. ”

"Hah!" The officer looked up to the sky and snorted, "Master Shang speaks well, but he doesn't do things beautifully." In this cold and rainy day, you can bear to let the brothers stand in this open air and suffer from cold and hunger? ”

"I'll have a few tents for you right away." Huo Shiqi turned around and took the blanket he brought from Yue'er's hand, took it in his hand and weighed it, and the sound of the copper coin immediately made the eyes of the surrounding soldiers brighten. "There are more than 20 here, which should be regarded as the tea money I gave to the brothers, as long as everyone does not enter my courtyard to harass the family, I will immediately prepare good tea and dinner for everyone, and I will thank you again."

A soldier came over and took the coat and carried it to the officer. The officer took a look at the coat, then reached out and tried the weight, grinning with a jagged yellow tooth and saying, "Master Shang is really a generous person, and he is twenty times as soon as he makes a move." He smiled and stared at Huo Shiqi with squinted eyes, "We have more than two hundred brothers here, how many people are enough for these twenty yuan?" The soldier with the blanket cried out, "Suffers from the sissy plague!" Just this little money, one by one, this surnamed merchant is sending us away as a meal! Brothers, you say, 'Can we agree?' ”

"No!"

The surrounding soldiers shouted in unison. One guy also shouted: "Twenty times per person is about the same!" ”

The officer raised his eyebrows and looked at Huo Shiqi, and said with a sneer: "Master Shang has seen it, right?" My brothers will not agree. Our brothers fought all the way back from the grassland, splashing blood and sweat, without merit and hard work, just twenty times, amusing the brothers, right? His eyes circled on several female babies, Huo Shiqi had already taken out the close-fitting purse from his pocket, unfastened the rope buckle, poured five golden little slurs in the palm of his hand, and said: "I still have five taels of gold here, and the brothers will also take them together, so I will invite everyone to drink tea and soup." ”

The officer took the purse with the gold, threw it twice in his hand, threw it to the soldiers around him, and sneered: "That's not enough!" Come one by one, enter the yard, let's boil water and cook by ourselves, and whoever dares to get in the way will tie me up! The soldiers shouted in unison: "Yes! Obey the orders of the Captain! "Pick up a knife and a gun, and go into the courtyard. Huo Shiqi stepped sideways and stopped on the steps, and roared:

"Wait! You don't dare to go wild without looking at what kind of place this is?! ”

He suddenly shouted like this, which startled a group of rebels, but the captain was not afraid, waved his hand and said: "A sesame-sized bullshit officer, pour garlic on him!" Someone, tie him up and throw him aside! A few soldiers pounced on them like wolves, holding Huo Shiqi's arm and dragging them to the side, and Aunt Seventeen led a few girls to come to the rescue, but was stopped by more than a dozen hippie smiling soldiers. Huo Shiqi roared while struggling: "The surname is He, open your dog's eyes and see clearly, what is on the stone drum next to this door!" ”

The lieutenant surnamed He sneered and ignored it. One of the soldiers leaned down with a torch to take a look, and when he landed a strange "ah", he spoke a little unpleasantly, and stammered: "...... This...... Here, on this stone drum, it is a moire sly! It's moire! ”

Captain He was also startled, and stared at the stone drum for a long time, and suddenly sneered: "Bullshit's moire is fierce!" You're fucking dazzled, there's a dog carved out there! He narrowed his eyes and looked up and down at Huo Shiqi, who was already covered in mud, frowned and looked at the girls, and suddenly grinned, crooked his mouth and said: "This family is so bold, they dare to violate the laws of the imperial court and fake the moire line!" One by one, I dragged them in, and I tried them one by one! ”

Before he could finish his words, he heard the dense sound of horses' hooves stomping on the ground in the south, and a group of soldiers didn't even have time to agree, and looked at each other with swords and guns with confused faces. Not only these chaotic soldiers, but also soldiers from all over the market town heard the sound of horses' hooves, and Huojiabao, which was originally chaotic, quieted down in a blink of an eye, only the dogs in the town were still barking non-stop.

The war horse came quickly, and in a blink of an eye, it entered the market town from the official road, and soon, shouting orders came from all directions:

"Chuan Yanshan camp military order: Since the day the military order is issued, scattered officers and non-commissioned officers and soldiers in various places will immediately report to the nearest military camp! The brave people in the scattered townships in various places immediately reported to the Yamen Military Department of each state and county for the record! All officers and soldiers who do not return to the unit on time after the military order is issued will be punished as bandits once they are discovered! Anyone who, after the military order is issued, still ignores the ban and wantonly harasses the locality, will be beheaded on the spot! ……”

Listening to this military order over and over again, the soldiers around him were all full of fear. Captain He was also a little hesitant, but in a blink of an eye, he saw Huo Shiqi who was pressed down in the muddy water, and glanced at the cloud pattern carved on the stone drum, gritted his teeth and turned his heart sideways, brushed out his waist knife, stepped over and shouted: "Brothers, don't listen to these fake military orders!" Lao Xiao Jian and Li Wei Guo Biao were all locked by the imperial court, and now where is there a camp in Yanshan! One by one, surnamed Shang, you dare to fake the military order, and today you want your head to sacrifice the flag! He was already holding his knife downside down with both hands, and he was about to stab it down. In the exclamation and shouting of several women, a war horse turned from the street with a "suddenly" sound, and the people on the horseback did not take the reins to restrain the horse, and rushed over by the war horse, and the cold light flashed in the sound of the horse's hooves, and saw Captain He's head flying more than half a foot high, sliding for a while in the direction of the war horse's gallop, and falling on the muddy ground with a click, and rolling several times in succession...... At this time, Captain He's headless corpse threw away his waist knife and fell straight down.

Sun Zhongshan walked around the back of the street, swept the blood on the blade of the knife on the upper of his boots a few times, and stared at the group of soldiers with a gloomy face. Bao Kan, who arrived later, sneered on horseback and said, "A little guts! The mansion of Sima of the military merchant in Yanshan, you all dare to break into ......"