The red sun fell in the west, and the sky and the earth were crimson.

The car stopped, and someone reported outside the window: "Lord Sansi, Niutouyi has arrived, and the county commander of Zhexian County has led a cadre of squires to greet your lordship in front." ”

Yan Shu stretched his waist, rubbed his forehead and said, "Pass the order, rest at Niutouyi today, and go on the road tomorrow." ”

The man took the command and departed; Su Jin opened the door and got out of the car, and stretched out his hand to help Yan Shu get out of the car, Fu Bi commanded the carriage and horses to park at the front of the team, and ordered the post house officials to feed the horses and fetch water to greet them.

Yan Shu squinted his eyes to adapt to the sunshine in the west, and walked forward, Su Jin followed closely, but his eyes kept wandering, looking for Yan Biyun's traces.

In the corner of the stable outside the post station, Su Jin saw the familiar purple carriage, although he didn't see anyone, but a stone fell to the ground in his heart.

Zhexian County Commander Pang De led the county officials and a cadre of squires to greet each other in front, and when they saw Yan Shu coming, they stepped forward one after another to salute and greet.

Yan Shu smiled and said: "Your news is very fast, so you know that this official is coming, why do you make such a big show?" ”

Pang De is a thin old man, his eyes are purring, he looks unusually clever, and he bowed down when he heard the words: "It should be, it should be, the third division of the master passed through the county several times, and every time the lower official was an afterthought, it was really rude, and this time the lower official waited here from the afternoon, that is, to do the friendship of the landlord." ”

Yan Shu frowned and said, "Isn't it a wasted official business for everyone to delay for half a day?" ”

Pang De said with a smile: "Don't worry, my lord, the affairs are all arranged, I dare to wait here, no matter what, I can't waste my official business, besides, my lord comes to this county, and the safety in the county is also official business, and the next official is also in the office." ”

Yan Shu smiled and said: "You can speak, the last time the robbers did a case here, I'm afraid you will all become frightened birds at this time." ”

Pang De sighed and said: "My lord doesn't mention it, mention this matter and the lower official will be on fire, this county has never been rampant in the past few years, I don't want to have such a big case in the official post all of a sudden, the lower official is embarrassed, the official document has already been sent to Ying Tianfu, the adult must have seen it, the county lieutenant of the lower official and the third class of officials will quickly investigate this matter day and night, and will definitely give the adult an explanation." ”

Yan Shu nodded and said: "Very good, but not to give me an explanation, but to your new prefect, he will definitely ask for your statement for this matter, but he has nothing to do with the old man." ”

Pang De nodded and said: "Yes, yesterday, the official document was delivered, and Lord Bao was able to come to take charge of Yingtianfu, which is the blessing of the people of Yingtian, needless to say that this is also the mention of Lord Sansi, and it is still the grace of Lord Sansi to the people of Tian." ”

Yan Shu smiled slightly, noncommittal. Su Jin listened to this Pang De's words smoothly, and the sycophants were not leaking, and he couldn't help but secretly admire.

Fu Bi arranged the stationing and vigilance of the accompanying team, and stepped forward and said, "Lord Sansi, let's go to the post station and rest, I must be tired after a day's journey." ”

Yan Shu waved his hand and said: "Let's go, I haven't eaten a grain of rice for a day, hurry up and buy food so that everyone can eat and rest, and the horses will feed and water." ”

Fu Bi said: "Xia Guan understands that he is already procuring." ”

Everyone gathered Yan Shu into the gate of the post station, and came to the hall through the wide courtyard, and the post station pawn brought clean water, let Yan Shu Fubi and others wash their faces and dust, and served tea to quench their thirst.

Su Jin didn't want to listen to the politeness between them in the hall, so he stole a free time and walked to the back; The post stations on both sides of the official road were originally military posts, not only the place is large, but also there are high earth and stone watchtowers built around the place, Su Jin went around trying to find Yan Biyun's residence, but he didn't see a single figure, and when he was bored, he climbed a stone tower near the left and looked down.

The tower is high and looks into the distance, the whole post station is in full view, several piles of bonfires have been lit in the courtyard in front, a few puffs of green smoke go straight up to the blue-gray sky in the evening, dozens of soldiers are busy feeding horses and feeding materials, and another five or six teams of soldiers have begun to patrol around the post station with weapons.

Su Jin looked at the layout of this post station, surrounded by high walls, surrounded by a wilderness, there were post guards in the post station, not to mention that people could not be hidden in the open area, if the gate in front of him was closed, it would be difficult to attack it, and I don't know how Tang Jie and more than a dozen personal guards were killed quietly.

While he was pondering, he suddenly heard someone below shouting: "Master Su, what are you doing up there?" The adults ordered the villains to invite you to dinner. ”

Su Jin hurriedly climbed down the stone tower and followed the relatives to walk back, a tall and thin figure stood there at the back door of the hall, was it Xiao Xian'er or who?

Xiao Xian'er also saw Su Jin, the two of them quickly touched, Xiao Xian'er hurriedly lowered her head and stepped aside, Su Jin had the heart to say a few words to her, but it was really not the time at this time, so she had to secretly pinch her little hand when she passed by, which was regarded as a hello.

The hall was already brightly lit, and Su Jin saw Yan Biyun sitting next to Yan Shu at a glance, only looked at Su Jin lightly, and then turned his head not to look, Su Jin had already been used to avoiding suspicion in front of people.

Yan Shu beckoned to Su Jin, pointed to the empty seat in his right hand and said, "Come on, come on, sit next to me, I'm not tired of being tired of bumpy all the way, and I'm still walking around." ”

Su Jin hurriedly said: "I can climb up and look far away when I see the stone tower below, so climb up to see the scenery, in the twilight of the wilderness, the autumn colors are extremely magnificent." ”

Yan Shu said with a smile: "At a glance, you can know that you haven't been out of the border pass, if this is also magnificent, what is the scenery in the northwest of our Great Song Dynasty?" Didn't you listen to Fan Xiwen's words, 'The scenery is different in autumn, and the geese in Hengyang don't pay attention'? ”

Su Jin smiled: "The autumn color of the Central Plains is not comparable with the outside of the Saiwai, if the autumn scenery in the south of the Yangtze River is the small jasper of the cardamom years, the autumn color of the Central Plains can be regarded as a famous lady in the boudoir, and the autumn scenery outside the Saiwai can be called a weathered old woman, from south to north is just a round of the year." ”

Yan Shu applauded: "It's a good metaphor, you can figure it out." ”

Yan Biyun lowered her head and smiled softly, and turned the corner of her eyes at Su Jin.

Pang De didn't like Su Jin very much before, but this time he saw that Su Jin was talking freely in front of Lord Sansi, and the relationship between the two was very harmonious, so he realized that this young man didn't seem to be simple, and said busily: "Lord Sansi hasn't introduced this little official to the next official, seeing that the little official is handsome, he must have come from an extraordinary background." ”

Yan Shu was stunned for a moment, and then smiled: "I am just a nephew, surnamed Su, who came out with me to practice, and the children said it, and the huge people laughed." ”

Pang De waved his hand and said: "That's not what I said, Brother Su was quite eloquent when he spoke, and it must not be something in the pool." ”

Yan Shu said: "Don't lift him up, come and come, eat and eat, it is difficult for Pang Xian Ling to prepare this big table of good wine and good food, reduce the meal order, I feel hungry every day, the old man is already impatient." ”

As soon as Yan Shu said this, the smell of steaming wine and food on the table became more and more fragrant, and Su Jin, who could still hold back his hunger, had a rumbling stomach, which caused everyone to look sideways, Yan Biyun covered his mouth and sneered.

Su Jin was a little embarrassed and said with a smile: "The text starts from the mouth, and the poem comes from the belly!" Ugly! Ugly! ”

Everyone burst into laughter and raised their big fingers and said, "Good wit, good sentence." ”

Pang De raised his big fingers and smiled: "The little official has the calmness of Taishan collapsing in front of him, and he should become a decent, export a chapter, and in time will become my famous minister of the Great Song Dynasty." ”

Yan Shu laughed and said: "This is too early, we can start eating, otherwise someone is afraid that they will recite poetry again." ”

In the laughter, everyone moved, and the people who had been hungry for a day couldn't help but eat indecently, and Pang De was shocked to see it, how could he never have thought that even the Lord Sansi would abide by the meal reduction order and only eat two meals a day, and in Zhe County, which is under his own jurisdiction, everyone is still stubborn, no one pays attention to this stubble at all, looking at the way everyone gobbled up, Pang De was souring for a while, and the roasted whole sheep at noon had not been digested.

After drinking and eating, drinking tea and chatting for a while, Yan Shu hid his mouth and yawned, Pang De immediately said goodbye and returned to the county office, the county seat is far away from the northwest of Niutouyi, Pang De did not invite Yan Shu to go to the county office for the night, one is far away, and the other is to leave early tomorrow morning.

Yan Shu is old and sleepy after drinking, so he should go back to his room to rest; Fu Bi and Su Jin and Yan Biyun and others sat under the lamp and chatted about family life, Yan Biyun asked about some of her cousin's recent situation, Fu Bi answered one by one, and when she answered, Su Jin was like an outsider and couldn't plug in.

Fu Bi is an acquaintance, and when he saw that he was obviously in the way here, he stopped talking and was about to leave, but was stopped by Su Jin.

"Brother go slowly, little brother has something I want to talk to you about."

Fu Bi turned around and said, "Oh? What's the matter? ”

Yan Biyun said: "Do you want the slave family to avoid it?" ”

Su Jin said: "What secrets do you and I have, this is out of sight." ”

Yan Biyun blushed, glanced at Su Jin with disgust, Fu Bi secretly raised his big finger, and said in his heart: The face is thick enough, and there is a future.

"The younger brother just climbed the stone tower of the post station to look, and suddenly he had a question and wanted to ask his brother."

"Be polite, let's talk."

"Our post station in the Great Song Dynasty has post officers and serving servants, can we garrison troops?"

Fu Bi said: "In peacetime, in addition to the post general, there are several post guards to maintain, because the post station is responsible for transmitting military information and government affairs, delivering official documents, and receiving officials, so it will be equipped with different amounts of manpower according to needs; If it is wartime, the post station is equivalent to a military station, and occasionally bears the responsibility of supply, then the number of people is too large. Why did Little Brother Su suddenly ask about this? ”

Su Jin didn't answer his words, and continued to ask: "Then how many people do you have in a post station like Niutouyi on weekdays?" ”

Fu Bi thought for a while and said: "This post station is responsible for all the greeting and sending from the capital to Jingdong Road, and there are a lot of personnel, it is estimated that there are at least twenty or so people, and the specific number of people will be known by the post general." ”

Su Jin waved his hand and said: "Then there is no need to alarm others, when I looked at the stone tower, I found that the terrain of the post station is very good, not only the foothold is quite high, but also the surrounding flat river is a wilderness land, I think if someone wants to sneak into the post station, I am afraid it is not easy to be in such a terrain." ”

Fu Bi frowned and hesitated: "You mean ......?"

Su Jin gently stood up and beckoned, "You come with me." ”

Fu Bi and Yan Biyun got up suspiciously and followed Su Jin out of the hall.