Qi Ning carried Chi Danmei to the river, went straight to the side of the boat, and shouted inside: "Is there anyone? At first, no one answered, and after two more shouts, I saw the gray curtain opened, poked out a head, and shouted at Qi Ning: "Someone, want to cross the river?" ”

Qi Ning was not polite, jumped on the bow of the boat, the man had already come out of the cabin, he was a strong man of thirty-four or five, the boatman was dressed up, and when he saw Qi Ning holding the person, he raised a finger and said: "Two people cross the river, thirty yuan." Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ”

Qi Ning nodded, not nonsense, went straight into the cabin, the cabin was quite dim, hanging an oil lamp, the rain was pouring down, the boat was also swaying, the oil lamp was also shaking, I saw that there was another person in the cabin, squatting in the corner, there was a small stove, there was a fire in the furnace, some smoke and dust, but it was not choking, the person fanned the fire with a small broken fan, heard the sound of Qi Ning coming in, looked back, smiled and nodded.

Qi Ning saw that he was in his early sixties, perhaps because he had worked all year round, and his body was quite strong, so he nodded to him, and the old man saw Qi Ning holding someone in his arms, frowned slightly, and asked, "Sick?" ”

Qi Ning nodded, and the old man pointed to a place on the side and said, "If you don't dislike it, rest there." It was a worn-out futon spread on the floor, and there was a musty smell in the cabin, the futon was shabby, and it looked like it had been used for many years, and it was impossible to find fault at this time, Qi Ning carefully put Chi Danmei on it and lay down, at this time he found that Chi Danmei's face was wet with rain, and it was wrinkled, and some places were still sallow, but in a few places it was as white as snow.

He knew in his heart that Chi Danmei mixed into the palace and changed his face in advance, but once this easy-to-look face was wet by the rain, it lost its effect, and he stretched out his hand to wipe Chi Danmei's face, but this time it was very easy to wipe it off, and when his fingers passed, a large area of snow-white skin was revealed, and the old man was fanning the fire over there, and he didn't pay attention.

Qi Ning tore off a cloth towel from her body, helped Chi Danmei wipe her face, and things like crumbs fell off her face, and in a moment, a gorgeous and unparalleled face was revealed, with an apricot face and a nose, exquisite facial features, but a pale face, Qi Ning probed his nose, slightly weak.

He was worried in his heart, the mission was still in Lucheng, according to what Bai Yuhe said, he gave Chi Danmei twelve hours, but Chi Danmei's appearance, not to mention twelve hours, even seventy-two hours, could not go anywhere, and he could not always be by Chi Danmei's side in these twelve hours.

A gust of cold wind blew, and the strong man had already lifted the curtain and came in, saying: "The wind and rain are too strong, and the waves on the river are also big, it is not good to pass at this time, the guests will wait." ”

Qi Ning asked, "What kind of place is this?" ”

"You don't know what this place is?" The strong man smiled for a while, and then smiled: "I think it's because I got lost in the heavy rain, this is Qiaoshui River, only more than a hundred miles to the northeast, it is Luwangcheng, don't you want to go to Luwangcheng?" That's going in the wrong direction. ”

Qi Ning thought to himself that he had walked out of the hundred miles in a daze, this hundred miles, the Eastern Qi soldiers would not be too fast to chase after him, so he relaxed slightly, sat down on the side, and the strong man came to the stove, Qi Ning turned his head and glanced at it, and saw a small iron pot on the stove, which was used by the two boatmen for food.

The old man took a small bag from the side, took a small piece of salt from it, opened the lid of the pot and put it in, stirred it with a spoon for a while, and then took a small bowl with half a bowl of soup and sent it over, saying: "This is a fresh fish caught in the river, your friend is sick, it may be better to drink some fish soup, if the guests do not dislike it, they will also drink some soup together." ”

Qi Ning thought to himself that the small pot was not big, and there was not much soup, this was the meal of the two boatmen, so it was naturally not good for him to use it together, not to mention that when he went out, he always had to be careful, and said with a smile: "Thank you, please use it for yourself." ”

The old man didn't insist, he brought the bowl over, and sat with the strong man by the small iron pot to eat, it was just fish soup, and there was no other food.

Qi Ning couldn't help but ask, "Are you two having lunch?" ”

The old man nodded and said: "Exactly, this is the first meal today, the river is different from the lake, and the river fish are scarce at this time, and I can't catch a few fish." Shaking his head and sighing: "If you were young, you could still dry a lot of dried fish every year, and in addition to selling some, you could still have a lot left at home." ”

"What? Is river fish getting harder to catch? Qi Ning asked curiously.

The old man smiled: "This is also the reason, but ......." Shaking his head, he said, "That's it, it's nothing, the guest's accent doesn't seem to be from here?" ”

Qi Ning said: "I am a foreigner, and I travel around with my friends, who are sick and lost. ”

"I see." The old man said: "After crossing the river, you go to the south, less than twenty miles, there is a large bamboo forest, it is easy to identify, there is a small temple there, there are only two monks, the old monk is very good at medicine, you take your friends over to have a look, you will be able to cure the disease." ”

Qi Ning hurriedly said: "Thank you for your advice." ”

The strong man drank the soup quickly, and in the blink of an eye, a bowl of fish soup went down, but he didn't eat much, and the old man said, "Eat another bowl." ”

The strong man shook his head and said, "I'm full." When he opened the curtain behind him, it was windy and rainy outside, and the torrential rain poured on the deck, and he frowned and said: "It seems that the rain can't stop for a while, guests, but I can't help it." ”

Qi Ning knew that this was also helpless, shook his head and said: "If the heavens are not beautiful, there is no way to do it." Yes, this old brother, are there many people who cross the river on weekdays? ”

The strong man shook his head and said: "It's not a lot, in fact, walking more than 30 miles to the north is the official road, and passers-by are all walking from the official road, and there are not many people walking on this road." We don't cross the river here, we just catch some fish in the river to spend our days, and occasionally cross the river, and occasionally cross the river. ”

"Since it's not easy to fish here, why not change places?" Qi Ning asked, "Your father and son don't seem to be very generous here. ”

The strong man said: "It's generous, it's good to be able to eat." He sat down and said, "We are not father and son, this is my uncle, and I am his nephew." ”

"Oh?"

The old man sighed: "It's not a secret, my nephew originally had a field and property, five years ago there were thieves and robbers in Mount Tai, the court will be near Mount Tai young and strong men are recruited into the army, to be a people's husband, transport grain and grass to build a camp, my nephew lives near Mount Tai, was also requisitioned, fought for more than half a year, the court exterminated the thieves, and when my nephew went back, his family and a few acres of real estate ceased to exist. ”

Qi Ning was stunned and said curiously: "Why is this?" ”

The strong man sneered: "Mount Tai suppressed bandits, the imperial court increased taxes, if you don't pay on time, you will be arrested and put in prison, there is not so much silver money at home, you can only use those few acres of thin fields to mortgage some silver money first, then God is also blind, that year of drought, crops were not harvested, the fields were collected, and several people in the family could not eat, they were starved to death." At this point, his hands were clenched into fists, and his eyes were full of grief, but they were also extremely resentful.

"The way my hometown looks, I can only come to join me." The old man shook his head: "I originally had a son who fished with me for a living, but in the first few years of conscription, after I left, there was no news. After a pause, he sighed: "Dongqi National Elementary School, every piece of land and every lake has a master, and where there are really many beautiful fish in the water, it is not our turn, so we can only eat in this kind of river that no one cares about." After drinking a little soup from the bowl, he sighed, "What if...... If the first emperor was still here, it wouldn't be like this. ”

"The first emperor?" Qi Ning was stunned, the old man obviously felt that he had said too much, waved his hand and smiled: "It's nothing, it's nothing, I'm talking nonsense, don't take it seriously." ”

The strong man couldn't help but say: "Uncle, the fact is the same, I still remember when I was young, we could also eat and clothe and plant our own one-third of an acre of land, so as not to starve and freeze, but now .......!" With a wry smile, he said: "This day is not as good as a day, I can still drink soup today, but I am afraid that I won't even be able to drink soup tomorrow." ”

Qi Ning glanced at Chi Danmei, and when he saw that her face had recovered a little blood, his heart was slightly wider, and he asked, "Could it be that the current emperor is not as good as the previous emperor?" ”

"The current Emperor?" The strong man snorted coldly, opened his mouth, and seemed to want to say something, the old man glanced at him, and the strong man stopped talking and closed his mouth, but he seemed to be depressed in his heart, and he couldn't help but throw a sentence: "Don't say that the first emperor is the abolished prince, and he is much better than him." ”

"Waste Prince?" Qi Ning was stunned again, seeing that the strong man didn't speak, he knew that these two people were guarded, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, it's windy and rainy outside, let's just gossip here, I'm a foreigner, but I also heard that the monarch of Qi is a little unorthodox, if he is really a good emperor, there will be no chaos in the country." ”

The strong man smiled: "You are an understanding person, you are right, the leader of Mount Tai's rebellion, I heard that he was the person next to the abolished prince, he led the rebellion, and said that he wanted to avenge the abolished prince, and it was the person in the palace who killed the abolished prince." ”

Qi Ning was a little confused and asked, "Brother, who is the waste prince you are talking about?" Is it the prince of the current Eastern Qi monarch? I heard that the monarch of Eastern Qi has three sons and two daughters, and he was only crowned a prince not long ago. ”

The old man sat on the edge of the cabin, shook his head and said, "The abolished prince is not the prince of the monarch, but the brother of the monarch. After a deep groan, he said: "I have been sailing for many years, and I have seen a lot of people, and I have heard some of them talk about it. The first emperor had two princes, the current monarch was the second prince, before him, the first emperor had already set up a crown prince, but more than 20 years ago, the crown prince suddenly rebelled, I heard them say, the abolished prince also led troops to rush into the palace, but was noticed by the first emperor in advance, the abolished prince was arrested, abolished the title of the prince, within a few months, the first emperor died, before the death, it was passed on the second prince, that is, the current monarch, what happened to the abolished prince, but I don't know. ”