2: White dew

"Hey, isn't this Mazi Liu, come on, brother, I haven't seen you for a long time! It's been a two-month trip, but you're going to make a windfall, right? What's a good market, you have to talk to my brother to get through the air. "In a small teahouse in the northwest of Weijin City, there are groups of three or five. The guests in the teahouse are dressed in different costumes, with provincial accents, and groups of three or two are shouting or whispering, making this small teahouse a different kind of prosperity.

"Hey, what a windfall, just collect a belly of bad luck. I said to my brothers...... "This young man who was passing by but was called into the teahouse was full of pockmarks, dark skin, and a pair of smart eyes quickly looked around the teahouse and found that they were all familiar faces. When the guests around him saw him come in, they all approached in twos and threes. The man who had just called him quickly stood up and vacated a whole bench. "I said little dog, hurry up and get a pot of tea for the sixth master." The man turned back and shouted to the young man who was tethering his horse outside the door of the teahouse.

"I told my brothers, this line outside the border will be difficult to run in the future. I received a few rare skins this time. Thanks to the fact that on the way back, I passed by Zhuangkou and copied a mallet from the familiar mountain leader, otherwise, I wouldn't even be able to come back. Ma Ziliu sat on the left hand side of the bench, stepped on the right edge of the bench with his right foot, half-squatted and half-stood with his arm on the table in front of him, stretched his head to the center of the table and whispered mysteriously: "Now the entire Youbei Third Road is muddy, and all the savings (markets) in Fengjing are closed." Do you know why? "Why?" Even the shopkeeper of the teahouse and Dr. Tea joined the circle of people around him, and his head was around the table and he stared at Ma Ziliu. Ma Ziliu froze, reached out and picked up the somewhat cold buns on the table and took a bite, and then raised his head and poured down a cup of warm tea. Seeing that the people around him were anxious, he immediately lowered his head: "The old lady outside the gate, no!" ”

The heads in a circle took a breath of cool air, and all of them dispersed after a 'hiss'. In the teahouse, groups of three or two gathered. It's just that no one is shouting. Ma Liuzi seemed to be very satisfied with the impact of the news she brought, and continued to eat the things on the table with a smile on her face. Before the remaining half of the bun in his hand was down, a fat man in ordinary clothes but very neat came over: "Sixth son, sixth master!" Ma Ziliu raised his eyelids, and the corners of his mouth twitched: "Oh, old man, what do you care about?" "I know that you have a number in Yanjing Tongbei Leather Goods Store, and I won't inquire about this leather this time." I just want to ask you that mallet you received at the mouth of the village, and you can get it for me? The old man rubbed his hands and looked at Ma Ziliu eagerly.

Ma Ziliu pulled his arms, revealing a red cloth corner, and then quickly stuffed it back. "I still want to change this baby for a future, so I don't plan to make a move. But I have another treasure, if you are interested, I will get it for you first. "Five elements and eight works, three teachings and nine streams, each with its own rules. Like Ma Ziliu, a merchant who runs a single gang in a leather goods store, he has always been single-handed, and the things he collects are all based on experience and eyesight. As long as there are no mountain bandits and road rage on the way, and there are no natural disasters and man-made disasters, then the leather goods store that has a pending order can turn over a few rolls than the receiving price. The better the goods, the higher the price. Therefore, whenever there is such a major event that will affect the price trend of goods, merchants from all over the world always get first-hand news first. Whenever there is a major event that affects the rise and fall of the price, the merchant generally will not bring the good goods in his hand back to the leather store, but privately look for a buyer to wait for the price and sell. One is to sell for a good price; Second, in order to cash out quickly, take advantage of the untimely delivery of the news, pour out the remaining money and make a big profit. Of course, this kind of behavior is not considered to be inside and outside in the shop. After all, their relationship with the merchants is only cooperative in nature.

After several rounds of bargaining, Lao Fang and Ma Ziliu quickly completed the transaction in the grove next to the official road. This is the first time for the old side, and it is a bit risky. But who would have guessed that Ma Ziliu actually took out a golden monkey skin mattress! It's been a few years since it's been on the market. The old man walked out of the forest like a thief, caught up with the carriage and walked cautiously along the official road in the direction of Weijin City.

Ma Ziliu slanted a long straw stick in his mouth, walked back to his carriage slowly, put the cloth bag containing a large amount of silver tickets in his hand into his arms at will, and carefully adjusted the blanket on the horse's back, and then ran to the direction of Yanjing City. The official road is full of loess.

Early the next morning, Ma Ziliu took the leather he received this time and came to Tongbei Leather Goods Store. The young man recorded the account according to his instructions, and waited until the Mid-Autumn Festival to settle the account. The door of the leather goods store went west and came to the door of a large mansion. The exterior wall of this mansion looks very ordinary, but there is a gold plaque hanging on the main entrance, which reads the four big characters mentioned by the current Beiyan Emperor: Anping Palace. It turned out that this ordinary courtyard turned out to be the residence of the fourth son of the current emperor, the king of Anping County.

Mazi Liuxu dusted off the ashes on his body a few times, stood still in front of the steps, and saluted with his fists: "Brother Concierge, I bother you to call the general manager, and say that the little sixth son of Tongbei Leather Goods Store is here." The porter was a stout man in his early twenties, who was sitting on a bench by the porch to cool off, and when he heard Ma Ziliu's words, he got up and greeted him: "Why are you so polite to me, there are no outsiders here." The person in charge came to give instructions early this morning, and as soon as you come, you go directly to the study, so you don't need to report it. ”

After speaking, he pointed to the house with his right hand and walked sideways in front. Ma Ziliu smiled while stretching out his right hand and pinching the other party's body: "Hey, the second brother's arm has been thick again." Saying polite words that were not salty or light, the left hand below reached into the other party's sleeve, and without the slightest fireworks, he put a small ingot of official silver. The second brother of the porter didn't seem to notice it at all, and was still chatting with Mazi Liu, but his sleeves were already clenched.

The doors and windows of the study were open, and when I looked through the window, I could already see King Anping bowing his head and writing something. The manager beside him stood slightly hunched aside. Ma Ziliu and the manager who came over met their eyes, and he beckoned slightly. Ma Ziliu walked to the door and coughed lightly: "What's going on." A young man's voice floated inside, and the voice was soft with a hint of clarity: "I knew that you were coming over today, and I told Lao Ge just now that I was going to prepare a meal for you." After speaking, he looked up at the steward Lao Ge beside him. Lao Ge is about sixty years old, with gray hair and a round face, and he looks very kind. He bowed his head and replied: "The back kitchen is ready, and it won't take half an hour to wait for the six sons to come and go directly to the pot." After speaking, he glanced at Ma Ziliu who was kneeling on the ground, and walked out of the study and ran to the backyard.

King Anping, who looked quite young, raised his hand, and Ma Ziliu hurriedly got up and stood in the position of Lao Ge just now. He turned to the side of the table, took out a red cloth bag from his bosom and put it on the table, and then lifted it left and right, and it was supposed to be an old mountain ginseng in the red cloth bag, but when it was opened, it was a strand of hair. "The great shaman of the northern part of the world killed herself, but the child in the princess's womb lived. The pigeon was broken in this operation, and its limbs were broken and could not be taken away. I buried it with my own hands. King Anping stretched out his hand to rub the hair on the table a few times, and then folded the red cloth bag and pushed it back in front of Ma Ziliu: "Then there is no one outside the gate?" "Yes, there's no one left. But you can transfer new people from Northwest Road, but it is not easy to figure out the low. The prince stretched out his hand to straighten his hair, shook his head and said: "You don't have to go back, once the old lady dies, I'm afraid there will be no energy left for small actions in a short period of time, stay in Beijing to recuperate for a while." After speaking, he pouted towards the red cloth bag: "Go to the account room to pay three hundred taels of silver tickets, send them to the pigeon's family, and then pay fifty taels of loose silver, and their women and children are convenient on weekdays." When you go back to the hall, you can take the pigeons back with you along the way. ”

After speaking, the prince stood up and shouted towards the door: "Lao Ge." After waiting for a while, there was a sound of footsteps outside the window, and Lao Ge trotted over, still holding a cloth bag in his hand. The prince pouted, "Take it back to your mother, and the weather will be cold in a while." I still remember that the old lady's leg hurts unbearably every winter, and this may be useful, so let's take it back to the old man after eating. After speaking, he waved his hand and ignored him.

Ma Ziliu didn't dare to open the baggage to look, and directly exited the study. Lao Ge and the second brother of the porter came to see him out of the mansion, and the three of them walked out of the gate of the palace with a smile. "Ye said to let you finish eating before leaving, the chef is ready, what do you say you are in a hurry." Lao Ge smiled and patted Ma Ziliu's shoulder. "No, no, I'll come back and see you two." After speaking, he stood at the bottom of the steps outside the door and clenched his fists. "Let's go back, let's see you back." Then he smiled and turned and walked slowly.

"Did he give you a door bag?" The person who was called the second brother in the concierge nodded, and asked with some confusion: "This is a common practice, you have never asked about these things in normal times, what is the matter today?" Lao Ge glanced at him with a smile, his eyes on his round face were narrowed into a slit, and the corners of his eyes were full of eye lines, not to mention how festive it was: "It's okay if the sixth brother comes back this time, but if you want to send down the errand again, you won't have a few days to live." Take the money of the deceased and lose his life. After saying that, he smacked his teeth, made a 'poof' sound, and turned around and walked to the kitchen in the backyard. The second brother looked at Lao Ge's swaying back, and then looked at the silver in his hand, and stood at the door stunned. The big tree outside the gate of the palace was blown off by a gust of wind and the locust flowers all over the ground, and the alley was fragrant and transparent.

Ma Ziliu took an unhurried step with the cloth bag rewarded by Prince Anping in his right hand, and when he turned about three streets, he immediately flashed sideways into a small alley, and when he stabilized his figure, he gasped for breath. After his breath calmed down, he hunched his waist and pressed his feet against the wall, walked to the entrance of the street, poked out half of his eyes to look around, and then raised his head and raised his hand to smash a stone on the right courtyard wall. I held my breath after a 'snap' sound, and I didn't hear any unusual sounds. After making sure that no one was following, the back half of his body leaned against the gray wall and slid on the ground again. The newly changed clothes in the morning had already been soaked with sweat from his back, and a thick layer of wall ash was rubbed on them. With weak limbs, he picked up the cloth bag and opened it to see that there was a rolled up golden monkey skin mattress that had been sold to the old man privately!

At the same time, many people like Ma Ziliu were rushing around in various places. Someone was rewarded heavily, and he changed his appearance into a rich gentry somewhere, and since then he has lived a small life of slaves and maids; Others were reassigned and received new assignments in an unfamiliar place; There are also some people who have fewer dishes and chopsticks at home since then.

"Who am I? Where am I? What am I going to do? ”

"Which question do you want me to answer first?"

"Hmm...... What about the woman who slapped me that day? ”

In a wooden house at the foot of Taibai Mountain, a thousand miles outside Fengjing City, an old lady and a little baby were talking. The baby's skin was not yet fully stretched, but it was able to speak. The old lady was boiling porridge on the kitchen stove in the outhouse, and at the same time coping with the little babies who kept chattering in the house.

"It's not good for your voice to talk so loudly just in your next life."

"Don't you think your eldest sister may have recognized the wrong person?"

"If you can come, you are destined to belong to us. What's more, she's dead, even if it's really wrong, there's no way to change it. ”

"Is the person who belongs to you a newborn person who can speak?"

"Actually, there are a few legends that I am born to know."

"Can legends be taken seriously?"

"Can you prove that the legend is false?"

This old lady who coaxes the baby while cooking is the second old lady who was pointed out by the great goddess shaman as her successor. And this little baby boy was the great shaman who prayed for the spirit at the cost of his life. Since the princess had never had a fetal movement since she became pregnant, all famous doctors decided that it was a stillborn birth. I didn't expect such a stillborn baby to really come back to life after giving birth after being pregnant in October.

"I'll tell you, whoever of you got it for me will be responsible for sending it back to me."

"The Great Shaman Jumping God invited you. It has nothing to do with me. ”

"Aren't you the successor shaman, come, get me back quickly."

"Although I am the successor of the Great Shaman, I don't know shamanic witchcraft, I am just a doctor."

"And who of you knows witchcraft?"

"No, can you let me succeed you?"

The baby looked like it had been hit by five thunderbolts, lying in swaddling clothes in a daze. The new goddess is the big shaman, and the second old lady is not in a hurry or impatience with a smile on her face, and continues to lower her head and slowly cook the porridge with firewood. Occasionally serve and taste it, and the movement is stretched and smooth.

This woman should look like she is in her forties, and the corners of her eyebrows and eyes are still a little soft that can't be hidden, and she must have been a big beauty when she was young. The little baby was fed porridge by the second mother-in-law, and looked at it carefully. "In the future, you can call me the second mother-in-law, or the mother-in-law Lin, whatever you like. Let me know it's me who is shouting, and that's it. Granny Lin smiled and pinched the baby's nose.